Impossible to Forget
DESCRIPTION
So, these photos were produced over a twelve year period. From 1988, Kenna visited the locations of Nazi concentration and extermination camps: in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Italy, Holland, as well as Latvia.
Kenna wanted to convey the inexpressible suffering of the victims at these camps, something he then found impossible to forget. This suffering can only be hinted at by the haunting emptiness of the camps. Although, his images convey a meditative quality, inviting viewers to thoughtfully contemplate the expressive landscapes. These landscapes evoke the disturbing realities of the camps. Seen together, the images resonate a greater truth. One which challenges our collective conscience to avoid repeating this dark and sinister part of human history.
Subsequently donating all negatives, prints and their respective rights to the French Government and the Caen Memorial. Kenna first visited the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in France in 1986. Two years later he returned, still marked by the initial emotional impact. So, this was no doubt the key to his decision to develop a project about the Holocaust. Since then, he has repeatedly returned to many camps to photograph their restless emptiness. Overwhelmed by the abomination of the gas chambers.
The photographs in ‘Impossible to Forget’ are directly opposed to the evil that continues to live in the camps, they are instead bearers of peace and compassion.