I’ve been to the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site a handful of times. The inappropriate things I’ve seen people do there are legion. Here is some appropriate shaming.
‘Yolocaust’ by Jewish artist Shahak Shapira puts clueless selfie-takers into historic images of horror.
Disrespectful? Tasteless? Clueless ? It’s hard to find the right adjective for folks who take frivolous photos at The Berlin Holocaust Memorial, a monument to the suffering of millions of people. That’s why Jewish artist Shahak Shapira decided to use a sharper tool: satire. His Yolocaust project superimposes selfie images gleaned from Facebook, Instagram, Tinder and other sites against sobering historical images of the Holocaust.
The Berlin Holocaust Memorial , also known as “The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe,” consists of 2,711 concrete blocks of varying heights laid out over nearly 5 acres. Nearly 10,000 people pass through it each day, most of whom (you’d hope) take the time to reflect on the unimaginable horrors visited on Jews and others by Germany’s Nazi regime.
However, some folks pose for selfies there like they’re at Coney Island, which clearly grated Shapira. In the site’s equally satirical FAQ, he says “no historical event compares to the Holocaust. It’s up to you how to behave at a site that marks the death of six million people.” The subtext, however, is that if you take a tacky photo, then compound your ignorance by posting it on a social network, you may become part of his project.
The site isn’t the first to mock inappropriate selfies — ” Selfies at Serious Places ” and others have also done it — but it’s the first to add a highly effective Photoshop twist. Shapira does give subjects a way out, though, in a final flourish of wit: “Just send an email to [email protected].”
