The Banality of Images and what lurks Evil Underneath...

This is from my diary while I was in Paris:

I brought up to the dinner party the subject of color photographs that were found recently of the German occupation of Paris. When I saw the catalogue in a bookstore I was shocked in seeing these images in beautiful color. The shocking aspect is that the city itself hasn’t changed since the Occupation. So when I see the images it is like seeing Paris now, but there are Nazis roaming around the streets. Everyone looks happy and going through their daily schedule except for the occasional old women or young man with a bright yellow star sewed on their winter coat.
What are captured in these images are the banal aspects of evil doing what they do best – acting totally normal. Frank told me that these were propaganda images from the Occupation and he was quite emotional about them saying that they told a lie. But to my eyes the images are just plain creepy and weird. Really scary and just awful yet fascinating at the same time. The image often, doesn't represent the reality.



Here is the layout I believe from the Sunday Times Magazine. Photographs by André Zucca.