The old customs in Strasbourg.

Photo montage.

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Photomontage Corentin Meyer

  • A Strasbourg resident, a professional firefighter passionate about history, makes photomontages with images of the Second World War in the streets of Strasbourg “mixed” with current photographs.

  • More than a hobby, it is above all a work of memory which targets young people.

  • To finance the project of a book, in collaboration for the texts with the writer, journalist and historian Richard Seiler, he launched an online jackpot.

The concept is very simple but effective.

A history buff has been working for a year on a unique book project consisting mainly of photomontages on the city of Strasbourg.

The principle ?

Look for images of street scenes, buildings, historic rooms, personalities in the city, taken during the 1939-1945 war in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), and mix them with current photos, taken from the same angle.

An idea that came to him almost by chance.

Originally from Alsace and professional firefighter at the Finkwiller barracks, it is while doing a "training exercise to climb on the cathedral" that he tried to find the exact point of view of a photo previously consulted in the archives of the city.

Photograph showing a Nazi flag on the cathedral.

Once the exact position and angle was identified, the story-loving firefighter grabbed his cell phone to reproduce the photo.

Then he set to work on his computer.

It is with this first photomontage, which received a “very favorable reception from his colleagues and on social networks”, that Corentin Meyer decided to continue the adventure.

A "duty of memory"

Since then, he has studied nearly 320 photos and reconstructed their shots.

“Sometimes I have to ask locals to let me into their home because that's precisely where the photo was taken seventy-five years ago.

They are interested in the project and they easily open their door to me.

I only had a few refusals, ”says the photographer.

The old synagogue of Strasbourg les Halles.

- Photomontage Corentin Meyer

But well beyond a "hobby", it is now a very serious, "bigger" project that guides him.

A duty to remember, that "the youngest can see what the elders have experienced in Strasbourg", but also a tribute to the history of his family, affected like many others by the war.

With the collaboration of a historian writer, Richard Seiler, he is already working on the model of his book, obtaining the high definition photos found in the city archives, the texts.

An appointment is already made with publishers.

Strasbourg Cathedral.

- Photomontage Corentin Meyer

Online jackpot

The amateur historian continues to search on the Internet, in the archives of Strasbourg and even with the archives of the army in Paris, for unique, unpublished photographs which would be of interest for his photomontages.

To raise the necessary funds, he has also launched an online pot.

The young amateur photographer is also a buyer if you have unpublished photographs (free of rights) taken by Strasbourg in 39-45 in the city, in particular from the 2nd AD.

In the meantime, the historian firefighter is already thinking of other photomontage projects… during his time off.

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  • Strasbourg

  • Photoshop

  • Culture

  • History

  • Photo

  • Second World War