Photography in Sebald

The art of photography is an important element in W.G. Seabald's novel The Emigrants. The use of photographs is an essential source of support for the main theme in the novel which deals with memories. The implementation of the various photographs in the novel show that Sebald does not take his readers imagination for granted. Sebald presents his readers with images, so that they are able to experience his descriptions of certain events first …

…have on a persons life and how these tragedies remain in ones memory forever; the tragedy of certain events are like photographs in that they never fade away from the memory of the people who experienced them first hand. These pictures are a useful tool for Sebald, not only for the aforementioned reasons but, because they help the reader achieve a connection between reality and history, thus giving the novel a unique and interesting style.