PALM BEACH NEWS

In November 1976 a new and unique large format Photography Newspaper popped up on the European Photography market: „Palm Beach News“.

„Palm Beach News“ was the catalogue for Beat Presser‘s new series of photographs „Daydreams and Nightmares“, first exhibited at the Blaise Thorens Gallery in Basel. The exhibit showed a body of work with hand coloured sequences, comic elements, imagination and dreams.

EDITORIAL

Editor and Art Director
Beat Presser

All photographs taken by Beat Presser

Publisher
Florenz Jr. Schaffner

Publicity
Christopher Fuchs

Details
1500 copies, 32 pages, size 28, 5x40cm
black/white, on newspaper print
published in Basel, Switzerland
November 1976

Waterplane in the Harbour of New York in 1920

A NEW CULT

“Palm Beach News” was like the beginning of a new cult.

However after the first issue we realised, that the paper needed some changes, if we wanted to succeed. We changed the name, restructured the team, organised a distribution system and we had a vision.

From the next issue onwards the paper would include photography, film, design, architecture, short stories, interviews, opinions and much more.

But photography would be our language!

Advertisement

From the very beginning it was clear to the creators of this rather risky adventure into publishing that the paper could only survive by including advertisements.

On the other hand, the concept and policy of this photography newspaper did not allow just any kind of ads. All advertisements to be published had to be designed specifically to fit the content and the concept of each issue

„HOUSE BAR“ – „BAR-HOUSE“

The first people to advertise in Palm Beach News/Village Cry were two young Swiss architects, Jacques Herzog + Pierre de Meuron. One of their first models was the „House-Bar“ based on an idea of „Two Cities“ by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi. This bar was made from ceramics, chrome, marble and mirror and later also became a „Bar-House“, as documented in the architecture issue (No.3) of The Village Cry.

Spring 1919 in Palm Beach

Tatlin‘s Tower

Monumental building, 400m high, envisioned and designed by the Russian architect Vladimir Tatlin in 1919, but never built.

Max the Muscleman

Roberta

Photographs from the series „Daydreams and Nightmares“,

08 15, part of a sequence. Starring Jacques Herzog