This book is Henry Leutwyler's meticulous photographic record of the treasures of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva. In his trademark style Leutwyler
does not merely document objects but creates portraits of them conjuring up their past lives
and imbuing the inanimate with character. Here he sifted through the nearly 30 000 objects in
the museum shaping a selection that most movingly conveys the vital functions of the Red
Cross: to provide humanitarian protection and emergency aid to deliver medical and community
support particularly for the poor and underprivileged. Among a variety of others Leutwyler
shows us objects famously symbolic of the Red Cross (first-aid kits uniforms armbands)
confronting finds (amputation saws a cannonball) as well as the unexpectedly beautiful:
delicate beaded flowers made by a prisoner of war. His focus is on the details of objects
their imperfections decay and often the damage they have endured: evocative of the people who
put them to real humanitarian use.
