Buchheim's Photo Book "U-Boat War"

[Subnuts]

I received a used copy of Lothar-Gunther Buchheim's photo essay U-Boat War in the mail yesterday, and all I can say is...wow! Some of these photos are absolutely mindblowing. There's a whole series of photos taken inside U-96's control room during the middle of a depth charge attack, most of them with a big "seam" running through them due to the camera shutter being damaged during the attack. In some of his storm shots, the entire photo is mottled with white splotches from saltwater leaking into the camera. Another example of a camera failure actually adding to the immediacy of the image. In one of the shots of U572 along U96 in the storm, U96 is being lifted up by a huge wave, and from Buchheim's perspective, the other boat is so close that it looks like it was photographed by a low-flying aircraft.

It's pretty funny that Buchheim was an artist and not a photographer, as so many of these pictures are so wonderfully moody and gritty. It's also interesting that, compared to the war correspondant in Das Boot, he was really "in the action" the entire voyage. He was taking shots inside the engine room the moment an alarm was sounded, dangling from the Wintergarden at precarious angles to get good shots of the boat, and sneaking in quick shots of the crew at work at every opportunity.

I've been searching for a copy for years, and I found one on Amazon for $8. If you can find a copy for even twice that, I wouldn't hesitate to jump on it. This might be the best collection of U-boat photos I've ever seen.