International Red Cross & Red Crescent Museum

Born in 1961 in Switzerland, Henry Leutwyler moved to Paris in 1985 and established himself there as an editorial photographer. In 1995 he moved to New York City where he lives and works today. Leutwyler's photos have been published in the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal, among others. His books with Steidl include Neverland Lost: A Portrait of Michael Jackson (2010), Ballet. Photographs of the New York City Ballet (2012), Document (2016) and Hi there! (2020).

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.