Evening star., 1917-01-07


o0 WHO gets the greatest thrills
Wy :. :; Il: q: ;:; !; " =: ::
trench? Or is it the fellow in Bristol
scout far over the enemy's line, at
tackled by plane and by anti-aircraft
gun, and waging a mile-hish fight Tor
his life? 1t may be either, but there is
another an unsung chap who is un-
likely ever to get the Victoria cross. for
his is not exactly fighting job. who
daily risks his life. He goes unarmed
into the malestrom of death; he does not
kill. Where 1t is unhealthy" is US
ually his place. He is the official pho
tographer. the man who. with his cam
era and case of plates, records for
posterity the tremendous events of
these tremendous days.
The wire-cutters. the bombers the
airmen and the sappers take few more
chances than he, for he is at 1t. con-
stantly under fire. day by day. always
making pictures The average Eng
lishman takes the war as a great sport.
There can scarcely be any phase of 1t
more sporting than that of the photog-
rapher who, under most perilous cir
bulb. shutter and lens.
THE worst of it Is that the most
dangerous pictures you take are the
dullest."
The writer was speaking to Ernest
Brooks. one of the British photogra-
pliers at the front. whose remarkable
Photographic experience by no means
began with the present war, for he
went to India for the Durbar with
King George, whom he shot" as he
was shooting tigers, and before that
to Spain. by Invitation of King Alfonso,
to photograph the royal wedding, and
to South Africa with the Duke of Con-
naught He had been asked what was
the most dangerous picture he had ever
taken. and his reply, as above, gave the
sum and total of his professional an
guish. He meant that out in she'll
plowed No Mems Land all ground
looked alike. all rough dirt and trench
Scared.
The official photographer. of whom
there are several with the British
pretation where the war correspondent
leaves Off. The war correspondent
does what he can to describe to the
folks at home the gigantic things that
are gong on III france. oIteHeF
not he is frankly and confessedly in
adequate. The camera man does more.
He brings back actual pictures of
glory, death and devastation. These,
too. as the photographer himself will
admit. are inadequate. but they go far
toward telling the great story.
Ernest Brooks, who holds commits
sion in the British army. began life on
the royal Windsor estate. and even If
there had been no war, which has
brought him great opportunity, his
story would have been deeply interest
ing--the story of a tenants son, taken
up and patronized by royalty on his
own self-developed merit. For years
now he has been taking photographs.
He was the first to take British royalty
for publication. He has travelled with
the king to India and back; on the con-
tinent he has photographed the kaiser
and any number of notable people.
During the present war Lieut.. Brooks
has taken more than 1000 photographs.
which brought nothing. He has been to
GaIlipoli. to Saloniki, to France and to
Flanders. He has been in submarine,
airships, aeroplanes, balloons and, most
recently, in the famous tanks" OF all
British officers few have seen more OF
the actual fighting than this man of the
camera He has been on every British
front except those in Mesopotamia and
British East Africa. In the Darda-
nelles he was wounded, while seeking
a favorable spot from which to take
his pictures.
His wound came at Helles. He was
with the Royal Naval Division, which
had pushed It's .ya5 inland OIL that 81