Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The World of Trench Warfare in Color













A scene over Hartmannsweilerkopf, in the Vosge mountain range
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SPIEGEL ONLINE:

Although color photography has existed since at least 1879, it didn't become popular until many decades later. The overwhelming majority of photos taken during World War I were black and white, lending the conflict a stark aesthetic which dominates our visual memory of the war.

Hans Hildenbrand, one of nineteen photographers employed by the Kaiser to document the war, was the only German to take photos of the war in color.

via Retro Thing

4 comments:

The Nag said...

Shouldn't be beautiful but they are.

John M. said...

I agree.

Although it has probably been said a million times, it seems that even in the ugliness of war there is beauty to be found.

One thing I found interesting about these images, is that even though they are a little bit over-saturated, the colors seem truer than what would appear in photography for many years.

airport_whiskey said...

I know it's a different war obviously, but I have an urge to watch "Band of Brothers" again. It's just so heavy though...

John M. said...

Never did get to see all of that. I think at the time it came out I was in a "burned out on WW2" phase.

I like Stephen Ambrose. He was a professor at the University of New Orleans when I lived there and I used to watch his lectures on public tv.