Synopsis

Photography enthusiasts know that Walter Zapp is the father of Minox, the first and revolutionary miniature camera of which more than one million copies have been sold since its invention in 1935. Because of its small size, the Minox became a legendary and sought after object for generations of spies – much to the displeasure of its inventor.

During his life, Walter Zapp was often close to success, but circumstances always prevented the final break-through. The “Minox-scandal” lead to him splitting from his own company at the end of the 1940’s and prompted his move to Switzerland where he lived and worked until his death in 2003 at the age of 97.

To see him as just another gifted inventor and constructor who was a victim of history and circumstance would be too simple. He was much more than that: a loner, dogged and persistent throughout his life who, even when on camping holidays, would always walk around in a suit and tie. Who was this man who always built whatever his family needed himself, be it a caravan with a cooker or even the house that they lived in?