Saturday, January 23, 2016

A Moment In Time - A Moment In War


This is a photograph of some American troops taken during World War Two. I don't know exactly where it was taken, when it was taken or, indeed, who was responsible for capturing this moment in time. It came to me via that most modern of commercial conduits - eBay: a service which allows you to buy dollops of history for loose change. The very anonymity of the image provides you with a sort of freedom to explore - there is no one face you are connected to, there is no known tragedy to taint your investigation.


Cropping changes the context, creating a more focused image. Whilst the first image is about wartime logistics, the second is about wartime troops.


And the third is about people, people caught in a moment of time. A moment of war.


In case you are wondering where my Sepia Saturday contribution is this week, it will appear late on Sepia Sunday, for reasons that will become apparent then.

6 comments:

  1. Third image: pointillism. Seurat could have painted this.
    I wonder why left hand guy wears his chin strap like that? Probably a regimental thing.
    Hope you enjoyed the pub photos. How could I not think of you?

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  2. This was my uncle's WWII job; he drove troops and supplies through the mountains in France.

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  3. They all look very nonchalant. They may be on a training exercise.

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  4. I can only see two axles and not three, so I believe these vehicles are likely the Chevrolet G506 1.5 ton truck. General Motors produced 168,603 of these between 1940-45. Most were sent to Russia, but the landscape doesn't look like Europe, as the trees in the background are surely southern Live Oaks festooned with Spanish Moss, both native to the American southeastern coastal areas from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and around the gulf to Alabama, and Texas. My dad ran convoys like this in the 1950s during his military service assigned to the US Army Transportation Corps.

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  5. Doing what you do best, Alan. Encouraging us to examine a moment, in war, or otherwise.

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  6. Nice to catch up on your posts, Alan. The photos as always are intriguing.

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