Genevieve Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
Marketed as the collection of a French Artillery Sergeant's personal photography before, during, and after the Great War, I was sold a disparate collection of mostly-junk by an eBayer who didn't know what he was talking about. Here's the story, and one of the few slides that likely had anything to do with the Great War.
A look at the Canon de 75 mm Modele 1897, in use for almost a century, and the central role it played in defending the Meuse Heights in 1916 at the Battle of Verdun.
A simple cross sits above a pile of German corpses - in a 1,000-year-old village that was completely leveled in a year, and finally came to be home to the largest military cemetery in France.
A look at the next box marked "Belgium" in the A. O. Fasser, as well as a consideration as to why plates in poor condition still need the "deluxe treatment" as regards their conservation.
As I head out to what I often describe as "a snowbound hellhole" of a hometown to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, I share an image of soldiers trudging through an *actual* snowbound hellhole on their way to battle.
A new box of slides from Brentano's - stamped "Verdun" on the front - gives me the opportunity to make some side-by-side comparisons of both duplicate and same-subject images from my collection.
A double exposure can be accidental. But this strange triple exposure - found in one of A. O. Fasser's "Belgium" boxes - was almost certainly made on purpose. The question is: to what end?
An extremely brief post, mainly showcasing a very lovely stereographic image of the scars left upon the fields of Flanders after the cessation of hostilities in the Great War.
The Great War was notorious for many things, and one of the most prominent among them was the use of gas warfare. Herein is explained the main gas weapons used in direct violation of the Hague Convention, their effects, and the reason they were not used much after the War.
While not as commonly represented in exciting sets of stereoviews, photographs and newsreels from the front - or any media really, standing around and shooting the breeze was as much a part of Great War life as ducking for cover during a bombardment or hastily fitting a gas mask. These were men at war, but foremost, they were men living their lives.