Double Exposure (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781923216921)

Klaus Hahn, son of an Irish mother and German father, aspires to be a professional photographer as he navigates the difficulties of growing up in Brazil. Although he loves the environment and wildlife, it is not kind to his asthma and he is at odds with an abusive father and his older half-brother, Robert.

Following the intervention of Nazi Stormtrooper leader Ernst Röhm in 1930, Klaus and Robert move to Germany. Klaus is introduced to Heinrich Hoffmann, the official photographer of Hitler and creator of the Führer's menacing "Man of Destiny" glare in photographs, and is given the opportunity to work as a humble darkroom assistant at Studio Hoffman.

Klaus is soon aroused and sickened by the realities of National Socialist rule appearing in his developing dish, even accompanying Hoffman as "Bag Man" to major public rallies, the grand opening of "The House of German Art" in Munich and certain memorable Nazi weddings.

In the intimacy of the darkroom, his colleague Eva Braun divulges her amorous contortions as Hitler's mistress. Assigned to set up a modern printer beneath the Berghof, Hitler's mountaintop retreat, Klaus witnesses firsthand the brutality of Nazi rule over the nearby rural Volk. His cosy interactions with the Braun and Hoffman families elucidate the moral compromises demanded by all dictatorships, right down to the present day.