International colloquium - "The Photography of Persecution. Pictures of the Holocaust" - The American University of Paris

This international colloquium, hosted by the "George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights, and Conflict Prevention" at the American University of Paris (AUP), aims to examine photographs depicting the persecution and murder of European Jews from 1933 to 1945.

Photographs play a significant role in both individual and collective representations of the holocaust. However, the context in which these photographs were taken is often poorly understood, leading to misinterpretation. These documents are still under-analyzed by researchers, who tend to use them primarily for illustrative purposes. 

In this conference, the focus will be on examining Holocaust photographs by questioning the entire context in which they were taken, developed, disseminated, and then used. Speakers will delve into aspects such as the identities and intentions of the photographers, the material and technical conditions under which the photographs were produced, and the reasons why some of them remain poorly understood and known to this day.

The interventions will cover both individual photographs and series, both iconic images as well as unpublished documents. They will also encompass photographs taken by Jews, Nazis, collaborators, journalists, or various witnesses, wether they were amateur or professional photographers.

While reserach on Holocaust photographs is becoming increasingly common, particularly among young scholars, this will be the first conference dedicated specifically to this topic.

This international colloquium will take place at the AUP - American University of Paris -  from Wednesday the 22th of June at 10h until Friday the 24th 2022, 17h. 

AUP
6 rue du Colonel Combes
75007 Paris

The complete program can be downloaded here.

The organisation of this colloquium has bveen supported by thev oundation for the memory of the Shoah.

Among the organizers of this colloquium, there is Tal Bruttmann from l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Sarah Gensburger from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, membres de la commission Mémoire et transmission de la FMS.