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- Vowing to Fight for the Motherland
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- Responding to de Gaulle’s call to arms
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- The Family, Left Behind under German Occupation, Resists
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- A Young Sailor Fights for France
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- “Minerve” submarine patrolling the North Sea
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- Chasing German U-Boats in the North Sea
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- Wounded at the Bombardment of Cowes, Isle of Wight
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- The Free French in Africa
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- A Young Life, Interrupted
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- Victory — a Republic Restored
Miren Etcheverry
My Father’s Story
This project is about my father’s story. In 1940, when he was 15 years old, he escaped German- occupied France to join General de Gaulle’s Free French forces.
Like many of the men of the Greatest Generation, my father spoke sparingly about the details of his war experience. I have put together the photographs and memorabilia that remain. I have had to piece together the narrative, based on family stories, and all too limited historical documentation. What my father conveyed to me was not in the details, but rather in his love and devotion to his country, and his admiration for General de Gaulle and the other members of the Resistance. Like him, they would accept no less than a defiant, liberated and resurgent France.
As I reflect on my father’s experience, I am reminded of what true patriotism and love for one’s country looks like. Now, in my adopted country of the U.S., we face existential threats to our democratic ideals. I pray that we have the resolve to safeguard the values we hold dear.
Artist Bio
Miren Etcheverry is a visual artist living in Cambridge and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Originally from the Basque Country, she moved to the US from France as a child.
Her work has been selected for exhibitions, including juried exhibitions, at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Danforth Art Museum, Center for Fine Art Photography, Provincetown Art Association and Museum and Cape Cod Art Center. Her work has also appeared in various galleries, including Darkroom Gallery, Kiernan Gallery, Menier Gallery, Las Laguna Gallery, Ground Floor Artists, PH21 and Belmont Gallery of Art.
Her most recent series of images have been photography-based digital collages, including her “Oh My Goddess!” series. The series was awarded various Honourable Mentions in the 2021 Pollux Awards and Julia Cameron Awards. It was chosen as part of LICC’s Official Selection and was singled out as one of the best in the 2020 Edition of the London International Creative Competition. It was also awarded 3rd Place in the 2020 IPA International Photography Awards (IPA). Previously, her work has received multiple Honorable Mentions in the International Photography Awards (IPA) and ArtAscent competitions, and has featured in publications and blogs, including the Cape Cod Times, Art Ascent and About Basque Country.
She is currently participating in her fifth Atelier workshop at the Griffin, with a collection of historical photographic collages about her father’s war experience.
Miren traveled often and extensively throughout her career in International Finance, always with her camera by her side.
Miren studied photography at New England School of Photography and Maine Media Workshops. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from M.I.T.
Her work can be seen on her website: www.mirenetcheverry.com