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Background information
1 Describe two key features of photographs of the tremches as evidence. One feature of photographs from the Western Front was that the photographs gave a snapshot of life in the trenches, what the terrain was like, conditions for the soldiers, the weapons used, the injuries and treatment used. |
A Second feature of photographs was the people who took the photos: At the start of the war soldiers were allowed to carry their own cameras and sell their pictures to newspapers. This practice was later banned because the government wanted greater control over what photographs were shown to the public. During the War, Britain had 16 official photographers. Most of them were junior officers in the British Army. Many of the photographs taken by the official war photographers were not shown to the public during the war because the government thought that they might undermine the war effort, by making people shocked and negative towards the War.
2a How useful are photos for an enquiry into the injuries, illness and treatment on the Western Front?
Photographs provide an intriguing insight into the Western Front. They captured images of the terrain, conditions and experiences of soldiers. They also provide images of weapons, injuries and treatment of soldiers. It also shows what each of the stages of the evacuation route looked like. Some capture the landscape, whilst others focus on the soldiers themselves. When looked at en masse, photographs provide a huge range on information for the Western Front.
However, single images only provide a tiny window into this world. They capture one location at one point in time, and in isolation cannot be seen to illustrate the full range of reality or experience. Furthermore, censorship and the use of orchestrated images for propaganda purposes, means that you cannot accept every image as reality- soldiers could have been asked to pose in a certain way, official photographers were often directed to certain placed to shoot, buy officers and the government censored what was made available to the public.
2a How useful are photos for an enquiry into the injuries, illness and treatment on the Western Front?
Photographs provide an intriguing insight into the Western Front. They captured images of the terrain, conditions and experiences of soldiers. They also provide images of weapons, injuries and treatment of soldiers. It also shows what each of the stages of the evacuation route looked like. Some capture the landscape, whilst others focus on the soldiers themselves. When looked at en masse, photographs provide a huge range on information for the Western Front.
However, single images only provide a tiny window into this world. They capture one location at one point in time, and in isolation cannot be seen to illustrate the full range of reality or experience. Furthermore, censorship and the use of orchestrated images for propaganda purposes, means that you cannot accept every image as reality- soldiers could have been asked to pose in a certain way, official photographers were often directed to certain placed to shoot, buy officers and the government censored what was made available to the public.