Artists Broomberg & Chanarin Cleverly Illustrate the Bible with Photos from the Archive of Modern Conflict

An award-winning book by London-based artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Holy Bible continues to resonate—more so with the world seeming to slide toward the brink of collapse. The book was a co-publication, out in 2013, by Mack Books and the Archive of Modern Conflict, and it’s a compelling combination of images pulled from the archive and “pasted” on pages that exactly mimic the King James Version of the Bible. In addition to images, Broomberg and Chanarin have underlined certain phrases on each page in red, in order to highlight some of the repeated phrases (“And it came to pass”) and associations between the images and words on the page. Because of the strength of the associations made, and like the Bible itself, Broomberg and Chanarin’s Holy Bible could potentially serve as a reference manual of human depravity throughout the ages.

All images from Holy Bible, by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. All images courtesy the Archive of Modern Conflict. © AMC and Mack Books. For limited edition posters by Broomberg & Chanarin, visit Chopped Liver Press. 

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