Support
The generation that lived through the Second World War, soldiers and civilians alike, has nearly disappeared entirely. This memory work cannot wait any longer.
Every year, the commemorations of the Battle of the Bulge gather a few fewer direct witnesses. What remains today are the living history associations that keep this memory alive in the field, the places themselves, and the accounts passed down by families. Documenting this on film, with the rigour the subject deserves, has a real cost, in time, in materials, in travel. Your support allows this work to continue before it becomes impossible.
Why now
A silver gelatin negative is a physical object, not a file. It can be preserved, archived, exhibited, passed on to an institution decades after it was made, exactly like the objects and testimonies these associations keep alive. It is this archival quality, not an aesthetic choice, that justifies working on film for this particular project.
But film has a cost that digital does not: every roll, every development, every print represents a real expense, on top of the travel to commemoration and re-enactment sites in Belgium, France, and sometimes further afield.
Different ways to help
Financial support
Contributing to the cost of film, photographic paper, darkroom chemicals, the upkeep of film equipment, or travel to commemoration and re-enactment sites.
Material support
Providing film photography equipment, darkroom equipment, consumables, or period equipment relevant to documenting re-enactments.
Access and introductions
Helping with access to living history associations, private collections, family archives, or testimonies related to the American presence in Belgium during the Second World War.
Skills and expertise
Contributing a skill useful to this work: translation, archive restoration, or introductions to American or European institutions.
Historical and documentary research
Helping identify precise locations tied to an episode of the Battle of the Bulge or another Belgian campaign, tracing the history of a unit or regiment engaged in the field, or identifying people, military or civilian, who took part in the events documented. This research gives each photograph a factual anchor: a dated location, a named unit, a verifiable story rather than a general evocation.
An essential independence
Support given to this work never determines which associations are followed, which subjects are photographed, or the content of the series. The documentary independence of this project is a non-negotiable principle; I consider a supporter's role to be enabling this work to exist under good conditions, not directing its content.
Get in touch
Whether you are an individual, a business, an association, or an institution, write to me to discuss the most suitable form of support.
"What is not documented now can never be documented in the same way again."