Introduction: European Photography Today

This introduction briefly sketches the relationship between Europe and photography from its earliest days, through the experiments of the 1920s, and into the post-war years. This history is the background for approaching the contemporary concerns of European photography today. Concerns discussed include: the fluidity of Europe’s borders, the commemoration and integration of mass violence, the marginalization of non-citizens, the fallout of the end of industrial capitalism, and the responsibility of the viewers of the photographs in which these issues are envisioned. In addition, the appropriateness of photography, as well as its inadequacy to the task of documenting and imagining the current challenges to Europe, is discussed.