Swiss Humanitarian Aid in Spain and Southern France through Paul Senn’s camera (1937-1942)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a brief biography of the Swiss photographer Paul Senn, and through the analysis of his photographic journalism resulting from his trips to Spain from 1937 to 1939, add a nuance from the visual perspective of the Civil War and Swiss humanitarian aid for the victims in situ. His photography kept track of both the Republican victims during “La Retirada” as well as of the refugees from Nazism in the South of France during 1942. His aim was to document the historical facts for Swiss readers, potential donors and affiliates of humanitarian aid. The final caption of a published photograph reinforces the compositional resources that Paul Senn employed to foster empathy with the homeless.