I have another good reason for not attending Telford (again) or completing a model this month (again) - I'm just back from a week at one of the world's great photographic archives - the ECPA-D in the southern Paris suburb of Ivry. This is the second time I've been to the French Defence archive. The ECPA-D houses a superb collection of albums - many digitised - including the 'Fonds Allemand' or 'German collection'. The 'Fonds Allemand' is an archive of over 400,000 photos, films and sound recordings taken by German wartime PK 'Bildberichter' or photo reporters. You are free to consult the collection and make low-res copies for personal use. Unfortunately the archive have now closed their photo-lab where you used to be able to order hard copies for 2 euros each. Digital copies can be ordered but the prices have increased. So if you want new photos or inspiration, whether you're a modeller or a 'researcher', you'll get a great welcome from the very helpful staff only too ready to help you explore their amazing collection of photo albums, both the physical and digital. You need to book a 'research' slot via the ECPA-D web site and hand over your passport as you go in as this is a department of the French military housed in the old Fort d'Ivry - built between 1841-45 - and part of the southern defensive belt of the city of Paris.
Below; a partial view of the photo albums that comprise the 'German collection', followed by a 'mosaic' view on the screen of each 'reportage'. Each individual image can be enlarged to full screen size! These photos were all taken by professional photographers. Curator Nicolas Férard has written a very nice book entitled "Propaganda Kompanien" about the work of the PK 'Bildberichter' photo reporters that appeared (in English) through publisher 'Histoire & Collections'. One tip from me - the best results can be obtained by taking photos of the photos!
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