Chapter 13 The Power of Place in Holocaust Postmemory Photography

In: Picturing America
Author:
Bettina Lockemann
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Abstract

When photographers pick historical topics for their work they have to deal with the problem of invisibility as past events may not have left visible traces to work with. The Holocaust is such an event that challenges photographers to create conceptual approaches in order to handle this complex topic. The paper discusses the connection between place and photography—created through the photographer’s presence on location linking invisible past events to current visualities. It investigates two photographic artworks of Holocaust postmemory: Helmbrechts Walk by Susan Silas and Plan by Bettina Lockemann and Elisabeth Neudörfl. Both projects use artistic documentary photography to operate with the gap between the committed crimes and the presence of the crime scenes today. The paper discusses the index as a sign that subverts the notion of meaning, thus contesting the photograph as a representation of the world depicted.

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Picturing America

Photography and the Sense of Place

Series:  Spatial Practices, Volume: 26