Figure 1.--Here is another staged Autochrome World War I scene. A hero is being decorated. Many of the boys are wearing school smocks. We also see sailor suits. Notice the girl nurse wears long stockings. The image here is one of a series of images taken of a group of children playing war in the middke of World War I. For details on the photographer and the chil

Many more early Autochromes date from the 1910s. We note images from the optimistic period before World War I (1914-18). We also note a few World War I images. This includes images of children playing at War. Unlike black and white images, there were no real snapshots shot with small portable cameras. Autochromes tend to be more posed scenes. There seems to be three main photographers in France using Autochrome during World War I. Jean Baptiste Tournassoud was head of the Photography Department of the French army, Paul Castelnau (1888-1944), and Fernand Cuville (1887-1927). Photography played an important role in warfare for the first time in World War I. This was because aircraft for the first time allowed comanders to acquire detailed images of enemy positions about to be photographed, in prticulr positions beyond the front-line trenches. Not only could areas behinf the front line be photographed, but aerial views provide a host of valuable information. As a result, each important combtant country had major photographic deprtments. Color photography as far as we know, however, played no role in operations.

Created: 12:07 AM 2/6/2012
Last updated: 4:46 PM 2/6/2012