Arno Gisinger's Panoramic Photography at Galerie 779

Austrian artist Arno Gisinger, a photographer and historian, explores the representation of history through photography. His earlier series examined the memorialization of Oradour-sur-Glane (1994) and the spoliation of Jewish property in Vienna during WWII. At Galerie 779 in Paris (September 7–October 26, 2001), he exhibited a series depicting spectators at one of Europe's last panoramas, which reenacts the Battle of Bergisel (August 13, 1809) between Tyrolean insurgents and French-Bavarian forces. The 360-degree painting spans over 1,000 m² with a faux terrain. Gisinger's work, influenced by Siegfried Kracauer's ideas on history and photography, highlights how the fixed central viewpoint of the panorama mirrors the constrained perspective of historical narrative. Critic Clément Chéroux notes that Gisinger's images show that a point of view is both a place and an opinion. A monograph co-published by 779 and the Société française de photographie, titled "Arno Gisinger, l'Ordinaire de l'oubli," was released in 2001.