THE PHOTOGRAPHER´S SHADOW

Photographs have a uniquely evocative quality that can, for example, call to mind someone we know in an almost magical way. But they can also depict the horrors of war so starkly that the act of viewing them verges on the painful. But what gives photographs that emotive power? How much reality do they contain or portray?

Helmut Lethen embarks on a fascinating journey through the art and media of the 20th century. Using the example of Robert Capa’s photos of the Normandy landings, he explores how pictures become historical documents. He indulges his fascination for the performance art of Marina Abramovic that so deftly melds art and reality. Lethen also immerses himself in the ironic play with signs that typifies the work of conceptual artist Bruce Naumann and which dissolves any sense of reality. He examines pictures that portray the idyllic, and discovers a sense of solitude that had frightened him as a child. With his finely honed eye, Lethen shows us what pictures are and what they are capable of. Yet he also steadfastly refuses to reveal the reality behind them, and in so doing stays true to a conviction that has been so important for his own life. A personal and powerful book that teaches us how to see in this visually bewildering era.