In 2015, Pinckers went for the series Unhistories to Kenya. There he portrayed the Mau Mau, the guerrilla movement that opposed the British colonizer between 1952 and 1960. Pinckers had delved into the archives of the English secret service and wanted to show the perspective of the Kenyans. He photographed the survivors of colonial violence on the spot, who staged the horrors. Two men helping a wounded soldier under a rocky outcrop, for example. Pinckers portrays the Mau Mau and shows their point of view of the battle. In doing so, he fills in the gaps in the national archives. It is Pincker’s ambition to supplement the collective memory with the images that are missing. This is how it goes: the man who wonders what truth is, focuses his lens on the present and restores the historiography.
The book Max Pinckers has been compiled by writer Hans Theys, who wrote a sparkling essay that has been recorded in three languages. The overview work has more than 300 pages and runs criss-cross through his work, right through the various series and projects, not organized by a theme, collection or chronology. It results in an overwhelming grab bag of images. This makes it fantastic to wander through the photos. The viewer knows: sometimes it doesn’t matter what is true and what is not.