Topic: Unseen WWI Photos from the independant.

[Mike (happyforest)]

This may be of interest to some.

Be warned there are some 200+ photos linked from this page.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/exclusive-the-unseen-photographs-that-throw-new-light-on-the-first-world-war-1688443.html

It is a shame that they are presented so poorly, one image at a time.  It becomes tedious clicking through to see the next one.

Mike

[Ed Wenn]

Cheers, Mike. Great spot.

I paged through about 80 of these and it's quite a collection. Fascinating. Can't say I agree with the blurb at the front of the site though. Photos seem to have been taken over a number of weeks and months (some in winter, others in warmer times) and I'd say they were likely the work of a pro...not a farmer as they suggest.

[euge...]

Interesting stuff.You cant help but wonder about the eventual fates of the sitters.I agree ed,there is a consistency in the poses ,use of backdrops etc and the sheer number of images which suggest more than 'a horny handed son of the soil' having a go .

[Ed Wenn]

Agreed. If the photographer was a farmer...I suspect his crops would have suffered from neglect.

[Mike (happyforest)]

I agree that it is more likely that the photographer was a professional.  The photos of women and children would to my mind demonstrate this also.

One detail I fond strange is that they seem to know the girls is 6.  Where did this come from.

Mike

[Ken B: eyes, I just do eyes.]

Agreed. If the photographer was a farmer...I suspect his crops would have suffered from neglect.

Ed, I don't know if anyone else caught that one, not bad mate.

[gothamtomato]

I don't think these were necessarily done by a pro. They could have easily been done by a hobbyist. They actually make me think of the photographs of Charles Jones, who was a gardener and photo enthusiast (born in 1866), whose body of work was discovered by chance, being sold in a trunk at an antique flea market in London (a number of years ago) and the person who bought them did research (based on the notes they found with the photos) and then published a book of his work: 'Plant Kingdoms The Photographs of Charles Jones'. If you come across it, I recommend you buy it.

It's very interesting to see his work because this hobbyist, who worked in obscurity, created a body of work that holds up against many of the big names of the 20th Century (& now).


P.S.- After I posted this I googled Charles Jones and found this write-up of the book I was talking about:  http://tinyurl.com/2aso65p

[Ed Wenn]

Yep, I'm aware of the Charles Jones story and his work. I think it's astonishing. I think Leon first mentioned him to me a few years ago. I've been meaning to buy that book ever since, so thanks for reminding me. I will go and add it to one of my many lists 

Re the WWI photos mentioned above; I'm not saying the photographer has to be a pro - even though I still think it's the most likely scenario. I'm just speculating that it's unlikely he/she was a farmer (or possibly anyone in full time employment) given that these photos were taken during daylight hours and there are hundreds of them. I'm pretty sure that farmers in the 1910's worked long and hard most days of the week. Not all the pictures are particualrly good and this does indeed point to a hobbyist, but the sheer body of work makes me think twice about that.

Anyway, we'll probably never know...but at least I got a reminder about the Charles Jones book. Hurrah!

[Ken B: eyes, I just do eyes.]

I would add/suggest that the photographer was a well to do person simply that they could afford to not work during the day and had lots of money for photography.

Also not forgetting the only people who would have had any knowledge of composition or light would be those who had studied art in some form.