The Duchess of Cambridge’s photographs of Holocaust survivors will go on display this summer at the Imperial War Museum alongside the works of 13 photographers in an exhibition titled ‘Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors.’
From 6 August to 7 January 2022, contemporary portraits of over 50 Holocaust survivors will be displayed in a presentation by the Imperial War Museum, the Royal Photographic Society, Jewish News, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Dangoor Education.
The official description of ‘Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors’ reads, “Through a series of individual and family portraits, the moving photographs in this exhibition present a group of survivors who made the UK their home after beginnings marked by unimaginable loss and trauma. While offering a space to remember and share their stories, these portraits are a celebration of the rich lives they have lived and the special legacy which their children and grandchildren will carry into the future.”
Kate, who is Royal Patron of the Royal Photographic Society, will be featured in this exhibit, which was stalled by the coronavirus pandemic as part of planned commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau last year.
In 2020, Kate photographed two Holocaust survivors, Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein, at Kensington Palace with their grandchildren to capture the generational remembrance of the horrors of the Holocaust and to preserve their stories for the future.
At the time, Kate said, “The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts. Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish. Despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives, Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank are two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet.”
In a statement, Tracy Marshall-Grant, Royal Photographic Society exhibit curator, said, “The portraits seek to simultaneously inspire audiences to consider their own responsibility to remember and to share the stories of those who ensured persecution. It creates a legacy that will allow descendants to connect directly back and inspire future generations.”
Other photographers whose work will be on display include Frederic Aranda, Sian Bonnell, Jillian Edelstein, Arthur Edwards, Anna Fox, Joy Gregory, Jane Hilton, Tom Hunter, Karen Knorr, Carolyn Mendelsohn, Simon Roberts, Michelle Sank and Hannah Starkey.
