The book is the first such extensive and comprehensive presentation of the Julien Bryan’s work. Its main theme is the siege of Warsaw by the German army in 1939, and most importantly - the fate of the residents of the Polish capital, as seen by the American photographer. In addition to a wide selection of photographs, there are Bryan’s reportages, translated into Polish for the first time: Siege of 1939, and Warsaw revisited of 1959. We also present the accounts of Poles who helped Bryan:On the ruins of Praga,a radio speech given by Cpt. Władysław Polesiński and Warsaw in September with Julien Bryan, reminiscences of Stefan B. T. Radliński. Introduction by Jacek Sawicki and Tomasz Stempowski’s essay are a contemporary attempt to show the work of the American photographer in a broader historical context.
The attached DVD contains the film Siege of 1940, from the archives of the Filmoteka Narodowa [National Film Archive], and the transcript (with the translation) of a Julien Bryan’s speech on the Polish Radio recorded on September 16, 1939.
The compilation of such diverse materials in one publication shows Bryan’s work in many contexts. It also gives a unique opportunity to examine the relation between the literary and visual documentation of history. In 1940 in the preface to the first release of the album Siege Maurice Hindus wrote Julien Bryan’s photographs are not merely to look at and admire but to study over and over. They re-create beautifully and movingly a momentous chapter in the history and drama of our times.
Julien H. Bryan (1899-1974) - American filmmaker, photographer and writer. Author of more than a hundred documentaries filmed around the world. During World War I he was an ambulance driver at the front at Verdun. A few days after the outbreak of World War II he arrived in Warsaw to document the fate of residents of the besieged city. However, Bryan did not see himself as a war photographer. He wrote: I am not a war correspondent, but a reporter using his camera at the time of peace, a person whose job is to travel the world and photograph the people, not bombs. He believed that his films and photographs can improve understanding among nations.
Julien Bryan has visited Poland six times: first in 1936, for the last time in 1974. The most important was his stay in 1939, in Warsaw besieged by the Germans. Owing to his numerous press coverages, the book and especially the film Siege, millions of people saw the true face of war.
All his life Bryan remembered people who he had photographed. In 1959 he returned to Warsaw and found those who survived. For him, people were always most important.
After the war he worked with youth and developed documentary filmmaking skills.
