LACAILLE (Frédéric) & PETITEAU (Anthony). - Lot 179

LACAILLE (Frédéric) & PETITEAU (Anthony). Photographs by Frontline Soldiers. Soldier-Photographers. At the Heart of the Great War. Photographic Collections of the Army Museum. Paris, Somogy Éditions d'Art, 2004. Large in-4 format, publisher’s cardboard binding with illustrated dust jacket. A major work devoted to a long-overlooked aspect of World War I: photographs taken by the soldiers themselves. Drawing on the remarkable photographic collections of the Army Museum, Frédéric Lacaille and Anthony Petiteau have compiled several hundred photographs taken clandestinely or on the fringes of official photography between 1914 and 1918. Despite the ban imposed by the command, many officers and soldiers carried small cameras with them and captured their daily lives at the front on glass plates or film. These images offer an insider’s view of the war: life in the trenches, observation posts, barracks, the devastation, moments of rest, comrades, civilian populations, and ravaged landscapes—as well as technical innovations and the most intimate aspects of the combat experience. This richly illustrated book sheds light on these amateur photographers, who have now become irreplaceable witnesses to the Great War. Each photograph is placed in its historical context through detailed captions and a study of the soldiers’ photographic practices, offering a perspective that complements the official war archives. Published to mark the 90th anniversary of the conflict, this volume is now a standard reference work on private photography of the Great War. Condition: Very good copy with an illustrated dust jacket showing only slight signs of wear.