Customer Reviews

Werner Bischof: After The War

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off, anyone who travels by bicycle through war torn Germany in 1945 to document signs of the early recovery after the war (as the photographer did) deserves a special nod. This book is a selection of photos from that trip through Germany as well as trips across Europe in the following two years. Fantastic concept, I'll admit. The end product, however, is mixed. There are some photos worthy of framing, but also some shots that leave one wondering: "they picked this shot from the many that must have been available?" The cover photo, of course, is priceless. Others that warrant a gasp include the Reichstag as a mere ghost of itself, the Hungarian soldier whose coat flaps in the breeze symmetrical and opposite to that of a figure cast as towering statue, and an Italian woman with stones perched upon her head, carrying her find away from a bombed building. But others lack oomph and stand up less well to the many post war images that any educated adult has seen over the years.

At the end of World War Two, the Swiss photographer Werner Bischof's fame derived from his delicate and almost abstract still lifes. With the war concluded, Bischof felt the need to get on his bike and travel around a devastated and deeply exhausted Germany. He knew that he alive at an historic moment and he wanted to capture its essence on film.

Following his German trip, Bischof spent the next two years photographing the utter destruction and slow rebirth that he saw in Germany, Hungary, France, Italy and Greece. His subjects were the war's ruins and the people who inhabited them. This is book about ordinary people and the extraordinary steps they had to take to rebuild their lives.

This is a slim volume with high production values. It can be purchased at a very reasonable price and is recommended for all those interested in the mood and feeling of post-war Europe. This book is a wonderful companion piece for Orson Well's "The Third Man". This book is also a testement to just how much Europe has progressed in the past half century. Highly recommended.