"The Lives and Afterlives of Amateur Soldier-Photography in World War II" is organized by Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte Paris as part of the lecture series "The Ends of War. International Perspectives on the Second World War" taking place on July 1, 2025.

Initiated by the Max Weber Foundation.
Concept: Peter Geimer (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte Paris), Arno Gisinger (Université Paris 8), Elissa Mailänder (Sciences Po, Paris)

The private images that amateur soldier-photographers created during the Second World War are one of its critical material and documentary legacies. As examples of amateur photography, a cultural practice shared across boundaries of time, space, and ideology, these images demand consideration from interdisciplinary and transnational perspectives. But as sources and texts, they invite as many questions as they answer: what roles did they serve during the war and what roles do they play in today’s global and digital world? What do they disclose about the intertwined histories of racism, misogyny, and colonialism? What ethical responsibilities and implications are involved when we look at graphic images of violence and genocide?

PROGRAM, July 1, 2025

10 am - 1 pm: PANEL 1 – ARTISTIC APPROACHES, Coordination: Arno Gisinger

Martin Dammann: "Art and War Photography"
Tatiana Lecomte: "The last one is me – examples of the simulacrum"
Clemens von Wedemeyer: "P.O.V. (Point of View), 2016"

3 pm - 5 pm: PANEL 2 – THE LIVES AND AFTERLIVES OF AMATEUR SOLDIER-PHOTOGRAPHY IN WORLD WAR II, Roundtable Discussion

Welcome and Introduction: Peter Geimer (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte Paris)
Moderation: Daniel H. Magilow (University of Knoxville, Tennessee)

Participants:
Ofer Ashkenazi (Hebrew University Jerusalem)
Elisabeth Edwards (De Montfort University, Leicester / Oxford University)
Elissa Mailänder (Sciences Po Paris / Centre Marc Bloch Berlin)
Sophie-Charlotte Opitz (Bucerius Kunst Forum Hamburg)

5 pm - 7 pm: RECEPTION

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No registration required.