The Eyes of War | Martin Roemers

Soloshow
The exhibition contains 40 portraits of blind victims of the Second World War.
Kunsthal, The Eyes of War
from 04 May 2012 till 26 August 2012
With: Martin Roemers

The traces of the Second World War have become seemingly invisible over recent years. Yet the full horror can still be felt in the survivors’ stories, their eyes reflecting the terror and trauma of a wartime childhood. Through his images of the blind victims of war, photographer Martin Roemers has unearthed a haunting metaphor for the depths of the human soul. For this book, he made portraits of dozens of people, who had lost their eyesight as children, young adults or soldiers. This publication features forty portraits with accompanying interviews; it remembers the forgotten yet transcends their individual stories of suffering. Former enemies from Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Ukraine and Russia are united in their fate as blind people and as victims of war.

A new book of Martin Roemers is published by Hatje Cantz.
The Eyes of War will be available from May, 2012.

Martin Roemers has a deeply felt interest in the spoils of war. His fascination with the themes of war and peace has resulted in various publications such as ‘Kabul', ‘Between hostile neighbours’ and ‘The last batch’. Roemers’ work can be seen in collections including those of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Army Museum in Delft. He has also had work published in a wide range of international newspapers including The New York Times and The Guardian, and in Dutch news publications such as the Volkskrant, Vrij Nederland and NRC Handelsblad. Roemers has won several awards including two Wold Press Photo prizes.

Press release The Eyes of War - Martin Roemers