Captured in colour: rare photographs from the First World War

• Introduction
• Colour photography
• Australian official photographers
• The French autochromists

Life in the French Army

While the autochromists excelled in recording the physical and social devastation of war in careful detail, they did at times bring a lighter side to their work. Pictures of soldiers – at rest, in camp, alone or in informal groups, and no doubt posed for the camera given the relatively long exposure times – create their own short stories. A hurried snack, a passing conversation, a joke shared – these are charming moments in village life divorced from the reality of the mud and trenches.

Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud
French soldiers on punishment duty, watched by German prisoners of war, c. 1915
print from autochrome
Établissement Cinématographique et Photographique des Armées
AUL 87

Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud
French soldier with equipment
print from autochrome
Établissement Cinématographique et Photographique des Armées
AUL 111

Photographer unknown
Two Poilus, 1917
print from autochrome
Établissement Cinématographique et Photographique des Armées
AUL 21

Poilu, meaning “hairy” or “shaggy”, was the popular name given to French infantrymen. By 1914 the term had been in use for over a century: it originally reflected the idea that a soldier’s long hair bestowed virility.

Paul Castelnau
A soldier’s lunch, Reims, 1917
print from autochrome
Archives Photographiques, Ministère de Culture
CA 000333