The History of Another

Published in conjunction with Attie's exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, this handsome oversize monograph features Attie's projection installation photographs, concentrating on his body of work from Rome, 2001–2. By projecting archived, black and white images of pre-WWII Roman Jews onto the color background of the contemporary city and onto the ruins of the Roman Empire, Attie situates this "forgotten community" poignantly in the grand historical narrative. In doing so, he recovers their own history, as often the projection takes place near where the Jewish Ghetto would have been. He also gives them a place in the collective cultural memory and history of the West (so grounded in Rome), and likewise in the contemporary moment. His elegant, sophisticated photographs create subjects who span past, present and future and comment on society's ability to contend with the ruins of the past.