Photographers > Ernest Brooks
(286) C.1988 - Staff of a trench mortar school in France
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Ernest Brooks > (286) C.1988 - Staff of a trench mortar school in France |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74546682 |
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| Description | Staff from a trench mortar school, in France, posing for the camera. The men, all sitting in rows, are looking at the camera and smiling. Despite the posed formality of the shot the men look happy and relaxed. The group is standing in front of a wooden hut, on the side of which is a notice stating 'MEDICAL INSPECTION ROOM.' Training camps and schools were set up behind the front line to train men in the use of weapons and prepare them for trench warfare. Many of those fighting during World War I were volunteers and had no previous military experience. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. Staff of a Trench Mortar School in France.'] |
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| Description | Ernest Brooks was the first British official war photographer to be assigned to the Western Front in 1916. Previously a 'Daily Mirror' photographer, he was given the honorary rank of Second Lieutenant. His remit was to take as many photographs as possible, with as much variety as possible. Using his inconspicuous hand-held camera Brooks was free to wander, sometimes capturing his subjects unawares. Many of the images taken by Brooks were used to fuel the propaganda machine at home and abroad. Despite this Brooks, who was very aware of composition and light, produced some very artistic and thought-provoking images. |
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| Description | Photographs by named photographers. |
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| Description | Black-and-white photographs mainly of the Western Front during the First World War. Official British war photographers took many of them for propaganda purposes. Unless otherwise stated, titles are the photographs' original captions. From the papers of Field Marshal (Earl) Haig (1861-1928). The Haig Papers also contain Douglas Haig’s diaries. |
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| Shelfmark | Acc.3155 |
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