Visual histories in 19th and 20th century Austria are documented here, from court photography and nature photography to political photography. A single photo studio will be analyzed documenting lives in Western Austria as well as a photo archive and its special collections regarding mountains. Imperial Austria is present in the pictures of court photographer Ludwig Angerer. Photos of wars figure heavily in this volume, from the brutal fighting in the Dolomites during WWI to National Socialism, concentration camps and the air war during WW II. Postwar life and the American presence in Austria will be documented from the end of the war to the postwar occupation – seen through the lenses of U.S. star photographer Yoichi Okamoto. Cartoons will be analyzed and the role of exhibits in modern public diplomacy.
Günter Bischof is the Marshall Plan Professor of History and the Director of Center Austria at the University of New Orleans.
Hans Petschar is the Director of the Picture Archives and the Graphics Department of the Austrian National Library, Vienna.
Martin Kofler, Director of the Tyrolean Archives of Photographic Documentation and Art (TAP) in Lienz and Brunico.