Some years ago I was given our German family albums. They show my grandmother and grandfather, my mother, my aunt, my uncle at work, rest and play. They start in 1920s Germany.
They are typical family album pictures; the family in their home, on the beach, out walking, at the zoo. Mixed in with them are my grandfather's work pictures of electrical plants. He worked for Siemens installing power generating plants.
Behind the veneer ofthe family album, the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany is visible both in the images and the family histories. As this history unfolds, within the family there are stories of unhappy marriages, secret loves, shame, suicide and despair. It's an album of tragedy.
These are images from those albums. They tell multiple stories.
The folding books below tell those stories merging the historical, political, familial and emotional narratives into an overlapping form.
The 5 folding books shown below are now available as a boxed set.
And as a DIY Make-it-Yourself kit here
This will take you between 4 to 8 hours to make. You will need your own glue, brushes, rulers, bone folder.
Family Story
The Siemens Album
Taxonomies