Shooting Range

The First World War began on July 28, 1914, 100 years ago, and lasted until November 11, 1918. From the start, photography and film played decisive roles in the media and governmental presentation of this unprecedentedly global conflict. Shooting Range: Photography & The Great War draws on a selection of magnificent private archives to show how this then relatively new technology was used for a variety of propaganda purposes. Reproducing a massive wealth of archival postcards, newspaper and magazine features, photo albums, commemorative images and amateur photographs from all sides of the conflict, it looks at the ways in which battlefields were staged for media images, the strict protocols on photography at the Front, and the obviation of these restrictions by private soldiers. The result is a fascinating tale of tensions between power and powerlessness, between the visible and the hidden, between public representation and historical document.