“The most horrible sight that met my eyes during the fighting was when, on a visit to Hongkew a few days ago, I saw a dog lunching on a human thigh.” (R. Brandt, 1937)
“1937 - Japan Attacks China!” presents the discovery of photographs taken during the first months of the Second Sino-Japanese war, and the identification of the photographers Rudolph Brandt and Joy Lacks. Both fearless in their own right, Brandt and Lacks covered the Battle of Shanghai until the end of 1937, which left an estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians dead. “1937 - Japan Attacks China!” discusses how history is based on many subjective chronicles and how memory is simply an interpretation of occurrences. Many of the stories of the Second Sino-Japanese War have either been lost or remain untold.
214 pages, 146 illustrations, with a foreword by Daniel Blau and essays by Ryan Adams, Pearl Lam and Tilman Spengler.
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This book is dedicated to the possibility of peace.
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1937 - Japan Attacks China !
The early months of the Second Sino-Japanese war in photographs by Rudolph Brandt and Joy Lacks with a foreword by Daniel Blau and essays by Ryan Adams, Pearl Lam and Tilman Spengler
Edited and published by Daniel Blau, Munich
Index Introduction by Daniel Blau 1937, Map of Shanghai 1914 Nanking 1934 Manchouko Shanghai, Paris of the East by Pearl Lam 1936, Student Demonstration Shanghai 1937, July 7-9, Marco Polo Bridge Incident 1937, August 9, Oyama Incident 1937, August 13-22, Invasion of Shanghai 1937, August 14, Black Saturday: The Accidental Chinese Great World Amusement Resort, Palace Hotel and Cathay Hotel Bombing 1937, August 23,The Accidental Chinese Bombing of Nanking Road, Sincere’s and Wing On Department Stores 1937, August 28, Bloody Saturday, South Station Bombing 1937, August, Hongkew Tin Hat Life of War by H.R. Ekins 1937, August, Shanghai North Station 1937, August / September, Going North Incidents by Tilman Spengler 1937, August, Military Positions 1937, September, Nanking 1937, October, Pootung 1937, October, Chapei in Flames 1937, October, International Settlement The Photographers Dilemma by Ryan Adams 1937, September, Shangchow 1937, October 26 - November 26, The Last Stand, Sihang Warehouse 1937, November 26, The Surrender of Shanghai 1937, December, Refugees Photography Forbidden Patriot Shot Rudolph Brandt Biography Joy Lacks Biography List of Works
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“I was so absorbed in focusing and guessing the right exposure that I didn’t have time to be horrified by what my camera saw.” (R.Brandt, 1937) Knowing of my interest in early journalistic photography, a few years ago Tania Sanabria of Grafika La Estampa offered me an album of 60 photographs taken during the Second Sino-Japanese War. These were beautiful artistic prints: red, blue and brown-toned photographs printed on Agfa Brovira double weight woven paper. The most amazing picture in the album, and the one that ultimately persuaded me to purchase it, is a red-toned photo of burning buildings. This print is heavily silvered. The building’s silhouette along the lower edge of the photo has a metallic patina to it; reddish-brown tones dominate the upper part of the picture and along the edges of the print there is an opalescent border from oxidation. An eerie and rather mesmerising photograph to study. This picture consistently reminds me of the mysterious ink drawings of Victor Hugo, which I have great admiration for. Tania’s father had recently discovered the album in Mexico. Research on my part revealed that a dedication on the black flyleaf, “To Mr. Amador with most sincere best wishes, Shanghai 1938 from R. Brandt”, refers to Armando Cuitlahuac Amador Sandoval (1897-1970). Sandoval was the Mexican Ambassador to China, based in Nanjing in 1936 and then in Shanghai from December 12, 1937. Rudolph Brandt, “Chapei in Flames”, 1937, 26,6 x 20,0 cm 6
He was the chargé d‘affaires in the government of Liang Hongzhi in Nanjing in 1938. Rudolph Brandt, we assumed at the time, had simply been the one who gave the album to Mr. Amador. A lucky coincidence occurred with the Victor Hugo, “Landscape with a castle on a cliff ”, 1857, 31,1 x 49,0 cm (© The British Museum; Nr. 1930,0716.3) independent discovery two years later of a series of small photographs taken in the fall of 1937 during the Battle of Shanghai. These prints originated from the archive of the N.E.A. (Newspaper Enterprise Association), and with them appeared a stamp bearing a familiar name: “Photo R. Brandt”. This confirmed the identity of the photographer as Rudolph Brandt. Prior to this the origin of the photographs was mysterious, as no definite conclusions could be derived from the ambiguous dedication found in the album. The serendipitous discovery of the photographs from the N.E.A. archive was an astonishing stroke of luck that provided overwhelming evidence of who, what, when and where, a defining moment that every researcher and historian seeks. It was an exciting revelation to find the missing piece of our “Shanghai Album” puzzle. Within the last three years, we have identified more than a hundred of Rudolph Brandt’s 1937 photographs of the war between China and Japan. A majority of them were taken during the Battle of Shanghai between August and November of that year. We also discovered additional photos by Joy Lacks, who now holds her place in the league of brave female photojournalists. Joy accompanied Rudolph on the front lines as they both photographed the conflict. So far we have positively identified about a dozen pictures as being hers. It surely must have been a heroic task to be taking pictures under such circumstances as they were described in newspapers at the time: “Scores have been trampled to death. Men, women and children fought like beasts to escape the death scene.” - H.R. Ekins, Shanghai, 1937 7
“Again I had to photograph the mangled bodies and crying wounded, hardly finding time to be grateful for having been spared from their fate.� - R. Brandt, Shanghai, 1937 It is interesting to compare the (far better known) works of Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, who photographed the Spanish Civil War together, with the photographs of Rudolph Brandt and Joy Lacks taken during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The pictures taken, both by Capa/Taro and Brandt/Lacks, are remarkably similar in their respect for human life and disdain for war. It should, however, be noted that these similarities in style and theme are the only established connection between Capa and Brandt. I am now able to present the fruit of this research in the form of a published collection of the photos and accompanying texts within this book. We believe it will have relevance across the fields of photography and 20th century history, and serve as an illustration of how the former engaged with the defining and often horrific events of the latter. 1937 - Japan Attacks China! is the second volume in a series that explores often overlooked and untold historical events through the medium of photography. The first volume, Misled: German Youth 1933-1945, examines and investigates the role of German youth during the Nazi regime. I am proud to present this book to the public, and to show 146 recently discovered photographs of this brutal conflict for the first time in 80 years. I hope it will help to illuminate a pivotal event that ultimately transitioned into the Second World War and still reverberates today. Daniel Blau
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Nanking 11
Unidentified Photographer, Ruins of Nanking, 1914
Unidentified Photographer, Ruins of Nanking, 1913
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Unidentified Photographer, top: Ruins of Nanking, 1914 bottom: “Josh� House on the Walls of Nanking, 1914
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Rudolph Brandt, Japanese Army on the Great Wall of China Coming Down from Nankow Pass, Aug. 1937
Unidentified Photographer, Chinese Disorders. Portrait of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, 1926
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Manchouko 15
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page 16 - 19, Unidentified Photographer, Manchouko, Hsinking, 1st Cavalary Brigade at 1st Grand Military Review, May 10, 1934
Wou Kong Studio, Modern Chinese Girl, c.1934
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Unidentified Photographer, Soochow, China’s Old Fashioned Women, 1934
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