The Luftwaffe blog is just back from a week at one of the world's great photographic archives - the ECPA-D in the southern Paris suburb of Ivry- sur-Seine. The ECPA-D houses an extensive collection of German PK photo albums captured by the French towards the end of WWII. This archive was reputedly being transferred from Berlin to some remote hideaway in southern Germany when it fell into French hands. The collection comprises over 410,000 photos, films and sound recordings taken by German wartime PK 'Bildberichter' or photo reporters. Many of these are now digitised as part of the 'Fonds Allemand' or 'German collection' at the ECPA-D. This is the second time I've been to this incredible archive and - thanks in part to Del's work on an 'inventory' - I'm starting to feel like I know my way around this super collection of mostly unseen Luftwaffe/Wehrmacht photos. In total I've spent eight working days here now and probably only got to open around 50% of the albums. You are free to consult these and make low-res copies for personal use.You need to book a 'research' slot via the ECPA-D web site and hand over your passport as you go in as this is a department of the French military housed in the old Fort d'Ivry - built between 1841-45 - and part of the southern defensive belt of the city of Paris.
Sadly the archive closed their photo-lab earlier this year so you can no longer order hard copies at 2 euros each. Digital copies can be ordered but the prices have increased to around 8 euros per image. However you can still take home low-res copies of any images for personal use - simply 'load' them into a 'basket' and the 'documentaliste' will send them to you in a pdf file. One of mine on day 3 of my visit comprised 902 pages and was sent to me via a file-sharing site. One tip from me - some reasonable results can be obtained by taking photos of the photos! If you want new photos or inspiration, whether you're a modeller or a 'researcher', you'll get a great welcome from the very helpful staff only too ready to help you explore their amazing collection of photo albums, both the physical and digital. Thanks to Chris, Nico, Many and Del for making our visit a memorable one..
Below; a partial view of the 'physical' photo albums that comprise the 'German collection', followed by a 'mosaic' view on the screen of each 'reportage'. Each album contains a number of these. Each individual image can be enlarged to full screen size! These photos were all taken by professional photographers.
Curator or 'documentaliste' Nicolas Férard has written a very nice book entitled "Propaganda Kompanien" about the work of the PK 'Bildberichter' photo reporters that appeared (in English) through publisher 'Histoire & Collections'.
