WW1 Battlefields

Nicely done. As I wrote about another picture here, I'm usually not a fan of centered horizon lines because they are either too peaceful or because the author couldn't decide what he was trying to feature so he did a cop out and did both. But the trees down the horizon line here add tension and great visual interest. As I said in one of your other battlefield pictures, the mood comes to me a lot from the title and fact that it is a battlefield. It brings out angst for some reason. If shot in color it may not but my experience with WW1 and 2 is in black and white documentaries mostly. The other thing you did which definitely adds to the tension is the fact of the long distance to shelter. To have to get your ass over this long field of open ground to get to that tree line. And the darkened sky also adds to the ominous feeling. I'm not sure if most people know but the Battle of the Somme lasted about 5 months and over 1 million men were killed or wounded, one of the bloodiest battle in history.

Like the photos - I visited the WW1 battlefields many years ago and found it quite haunting.All those gravestones and the many graveyards that you went past - mile after mile, with some small and some huge. Its a pretty sobering place to visit. Martin

blansky said:

Nicely done. As I wrote about another picture here, I'm usually not a fan of centered horizon lines because they are either too peaceful or because the author couldn't decide what he was trying to feature so he did a cop out and did both. But the trees down the horizon line here add tension and great visual interest. As I said in one of your other battlefield pictures, the mood comes to me a lot from the title and fact that it is a battlefield. It brings out angst for some reason. If shot in color it may not but my experience with WW1 and 2 is in black and white documentaries mostly. The other thing you did which definitely adds to the tension is the fact of the long distance to shelter. To have to get your ass over this long field of open ground to get to that tree line. And the darkened sky also adds to the ominous feeling. I'm not sure if most people know but the Battle of the Somme lasted about 5 months and over 1 million men were killed or wounded, one of the bloodiest battle in history.

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Many thanks for your comment. This was taken when I was leaving Flanders and going to the Somme area. It was a rainy day, grim and cold. Every corner that you turn in this area has a cemetery or memorial. They are mostly shiny sandstone commemorating the dead, glorifying war. How lucky and honoured these men were to die for their countries? I don't feel that way. What I saw in this was a horizon of mud. The men in the trenches lived in up to a meter of mud. It must have been hell; raining shells, no respite from the cold and rain and no perspective on purpose or life. I burned in the sky to force this feeling of oppression. There was no escape beneath or above. Many decided to 'go over the top' to simply end it. On the horizon an innocuous row of trees, which we wouldn't pay attention to. There they stand though, either as a symbol of cover, temporal and temporary. I saw a line of soldiers united in the grim face of war, tall, proud, fragile and lining up to feed the guns. For all the shining memorials that I saw, this for me was the reality of it. As for the centered horizon, I surrender to that which the square demands of me. It also makes easy looking for what turns out to be absolute horror when we think about. The beauty and the horror.

Even without knowing the location/history, this is a superb photo. I also saw the trees as soldiers standing in formation.

I think this would have been good full frame but with the out of focus anterior part of the print. it to me is very distracting. SO i would have made this a very narrow print or pan print to balance and get rid of the ungodly out of focus anterior of the print.

Again, Like I said in my forum, Just because you use a square format doesn't mean it has to be a Square print. This philosophy of doing full format only works when you are contact printing and have no choice. Then you have to be very aware of all four corners of your image.

michael9793 said:

Again, Like I said in my forum, Just because you use a square format doesn't mean it has to be a Square print. This philosophy of doing full format only works when you are contact printing and have no choice. Then you have to be very aware of all four corners of your image.

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Thanks for the comments. This is actually deliberate. The human eye has a very narrow depth of field; if you look at the horizon, your anterior vision is distorted and out of focus. This forces you to look at the trees in this image, the sky in turn forces you back down. You've got nowhere to go and yes it's uncomfortable and oppressive, it's supposed to be. It's meant to be unnerving and uncomfortable except for a thin row of trees that offer little in the way of comfort or solace, they too are lining up to feed the guns or sink into the mud.With regards to not printing the full format, I'm relatively new to printing and it's part of my journey; right now I'm obsessed with framing in camera and printing the full frame.

michael9793 said:

I think this would have been good full frame but with the out of focus anterior part of the print. it to me is very distracting. SO i would have made this a very narrow print or pan print to balance and get rid of the ungodly out of focus anterior of the print.

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That's definitely a choice, and I often think cropping makes pictures sing, but in this case I think the different focus points add to the feeling of distance and even the futility or desperation at trying to reach them. I think if it's cropped some of the menace disappears. I wouldn't change a thing on this. Different strokes.