Trophy Photographs

The display of triumph is one of the defining visual motifs in soldiers' photographs from the Second World War - the largest armed conflict to date and the first to be extensively documented in images. In this transnational study, fifteen scholars, collectors, and artists explore "trophy photographs" as a distinct genre and widespread social practice across nearly all armies. These images transformed war into a shared visual event that affected individual servicemen and entire societies while concurrently shaping collective perceptions, identities, and memories of war. By analyzing their performative qualities, impact and evocative power, this book reveals how trophy photographs function as weapons in their own right. The multi-perspective, interdisciplinary approach demonstrates the need for a critical engagement with the representations and visual legacies of war and offers new insights into wartime imagery - from private albums to today's social media. Elissa Mailänder is a professor of contemporary history at Sciences Po Paris. Tom Streuber is a writer, director, and producer working across media.