Europe 1945. Famous photographers were making impressive images of Europe emerging anew from a world war sparked by the Nazi regime. They included the American photographer Yoichi Okamoto (1915-1985), who came to Europe as military photographer in spring 1945 and was commissioned in Austria as the personal photographer of the Commander-in-Chief of the American forces in Austria, General Mark W. Clark. His main subject was life after the war, people's hope, the pursuit of happiness, reconstruction, art and culture, and creativity in Austria.
In 2019, the Austrian National Library acquired the personal photographic estate of Yoichi Okamoto, whose art inspired a whole generation of photographers in Austria and internationally.
The large special exhibition in the State Hall of the Austrian National Library presents for the first time an extensive selection of impressive images documenting the visual history of Austria from the beginnings of the 2nd Republic: A unique photographic oeuvre in which society, politics, art and culture were captured from Okamoto's special point of view. Images that he himself considered his best and worthy of being preserved for posterity.
The exhibition also provides unique insights into Austrian-American relations after 1945, when Okamoto headed the Pictorial Section of the United States Information Services Branch in Austria and documented all the Marshall Plan projects in Austria.
Okamoto was the son of Japanese immigrants, served in the US Army himself and met his wife Paula in Vienna. In 1963, he became the official presidential photographer in the White House under Lyndon B. Johnson.
Curated by Marlies Dornig and Hans Petschar
The use of the image material provided in the context of reporting on the Austrian National Library is free of charge. Copyright, unless otherwise stated: Austrian National Library.
Press contact:
Elke Koch
Kommunikation und Marketing
Josefsplatz 1
1015 Wien
Tel.: +43 1 53410-270
Mobil: +43 664 201 27 18
elke.koch[at]onb.ac.at
Our website uses cookies: in addition to those that are technically necessary for the functionality of our website and therefore cannot be rejected, we also use those whose purpose is to analyse website accesses, as well as those set by third-party providers such as Youtube and Google. With your consent to analysis and third-party cookies, data is processed both by us and by third-party providers, some of which are based in third countries (e.g. the USA). You can find more information about the tools and the partner:s in our data protection declaration. If you wish, you can adjust your cookie settings individually at any time via the link in the footer.
These cookies are necessary for the basic functions of the website. You can block or delete them in your browser settings, but then there is a risk that some parts of the website will not function properly.
If you activate Matomo, we can analyse your use of our website in order to adapt and further improve our services. The following cookies may be set:
If you activate Youtube, videos from this provider will be displayed on our website. The following cookies may be set:
If you activate Google Maps, maps from this provider will be displayed on our website. The following cookies may be set:
