A Painful Privilege

I always wanted to visit this place. I learnt about it at school, never thought it would happen. My career as a magician and world traveler has presented me with many experiences to travel. My recent trip to Krakow, Poland meant I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz and I took it.

With my camera in hand, I knew I would be treating this a photojournalist not a tourist. This gave me the chance to focus on creating compelling images that told a story. My emotions were still connected to the experience of being in this place and what happened here was not lost on me. There were moments when I had to stop creating images and just presence myself to this place and what happned in human history.

As I walked around the grounds of the main camp, I contemplated how one could escape. A few did, and yet I was left with the feeling of despair simply because of the vast landscape. At one point, our guide took us into the room where the "showers" were, as I entered, I saw people in front of me and imagined this photo in black and white; "The Last Shower".

A factory of death; what collection of minds could sit around a table and create something like this? This was a sobering moment; it left me still in my thoughts and sadness.

This final image reminds me that this place is still standing. It stands as a reminder of what happened when humanity lost its way.

“We cannot get by Auschwitz. We should not even try, as great as the temptation is, because Auschwitz belongs to us, is branded into our history, and - to our benefit! - has made possible an insight that could be summarized as, 'Now we finally know ourselves”

Gunter Grass