Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-17
WAR PHOTOGRAPHY.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

In the first half of 1914 war photogra-
ply was at its zenith. In the last half
of this same year it is at its nadir.
The opposing forces in the internecine
strife in Mexico altered plans and sus-
pended considerations of strategy to
meet the convenience of the moving pic
ture cameraman. The incipient rebellion
in the north of Ireland was manifesting
itself in martial drills. of which the
camera was an essential and never-for-
gotten part. Our own bluejackets at
Vera Cruz were quite as familiar with
the click of the camera shutter with
the crack of the rifle. and many We're
the thousands of feet of film that We're
used. many the pound of copper that
transferred the photograph to the print
ed newspaper page. War had become but
an adjunct OF the Photographic art. and,
far as picture men were concerned,
it was evident that the camera was
mightier than the sword
All that was ages ago-all that was in
the hrst part of this year.
Mars was but INDUCING in a little
bloody play i'll Mexico, he was only iok-
ing in the north
Wnen MARS I0yed of Ireland and
With Mems Souls. " e IN II >
opened and mems souls and bodies part
ed, the god of war was but toying with
the children of men,
With the second half of the Year his
demeanor changed, and now he has
plunged the world into its worst of
wars.
And what has become of tho camera
man. the ubiquitous cameraman, the
cameraman who was everywhere all
the time, anywhere at any time?
His erstwhlle friend, the god OF war,
has frowned upon him. Sentries on
guard at the back gates of the Euro
pean battlefields ask first. Have you
or foe:" To be caught with the
ca f,lera anywhere near the actual active
battle front Is to be condemned to
death, for while the camera may be
directed 1t must also close, else secrets
of tactic and strategy be revealed to
the enemy.
They say the day of the war cor
| respondent is done. While wars have
m AIRED I h c
War Photographer pages of his
Makes His Debut. s eo.s ,eran
| the war correspondent is but Il century
old. To be precise. the first war cor
respondent wrote the first war dis
patch to the London Times in 1907.
| The war correspondent reached the
pinnacle of his glory in the American
civil war, and, oddly enough, it was
in this same war that the war photog-
rapher first made his appearance Pho
! Biography then was not matter of
| swift-moving fHthoms of film taking
instantaneous Impressions 1t was a
slow and painful work of wet plates
and exposures of duration that
seemed like centuries: Yet the civil
war was. perhaps, as --eii and faith
fully photographed as any war will
ever be.
! Photography was so new and there
was 10 process OF transferring photo
graphs into the newspapers, that
the photographer was permitted to
I follow the ;.rrlies ua,uoleStad- That
/ nearly half 4 century went by before
/ these photographs We're generally pub
/ iished does not alter the case.
Yet, despite prohibitions. despite threats
of instant death. the photographers have,
after all, given idea OF the wreck
and ruin III the wake Of the European
armies they dared not follow too 81. sely.
! We have seen Photographs OF burned vi
lagos and rilirea CHURCHES. We nave see
Photographs of ''in?presnable' forts utter
/ y destroyed by lnvincibie guns. And
. worse tl"n t..,t- ave s:.,.n pio:o-
graphs OF women and children and old
men nezlnS rom Llei.' ticEd stated MONIES.
the pitifi:i victims OF lie pisless crime
! OF war. Most OF these have been taken
for the purpose of propaganda, and they
( are representative OI The wreck and
| not u the fierce action that caused the
/ wreck.
| III motion pictures at the front there
! have been none: wig is best explained
b: a letter from
NGtl0n Pictures al English NOV
,ils picture man
@S.- oiiSS- @s--i' ,y:.o has tired L,
Sc: :iaan. 1t .~ss :;.:tsn g ;!.e president
e 81 :.ne:es:. i.:G:!fl3 a:@ta:@ concern.
- !st.e: says. n p=r.
Il nst'ss tie: ysh a"e sending 9 staff
uf eight eameraiaen L. tha front to gel
war pictures. etc. New, I advise you to
go vory slow In ills business. Il Just
| means mans life 10 take any pictures
over there Mt present, and the chances
are that Il will be 30 in the future AZ
well. You have no conception of the
conditions across the channel-absolutely
no conception. / do not care what the