Of course virtue signalling was not a concept around in 1942 but you can see how it can be retrofitted. The 1942 album contains sage words about the war and features some photographs of military men and this warship. When I say military men I don’t mean actual soldiers, airmen and sailors but top brass in their dress uniforms photographed in a studio. The introduction to the album does admit that photography was of “outstanding importance for aerial reconnaissance” and “of inestimable value in modern warfare.”
And now for some of the usual landscapes, nudes etc.
Here’s a relaxing and heart-warming photo of a woman, her child and dog pointedly labelled “freedom.” You probably feel better already.
Again untaxing but this romantic shot of a women gazing out to sea is wonderfully composed.
“The Theatre Sister” is more challenging and looks rather modern in comparison to some other photographs. This wouldn’t be out of place in a modern publication.
Euclid’s Girl Friend and Hogarth’s Curve prove that geometry can be more fun than you might have thought.
Sutherlandshire does not exist as such today but is part of the Highland region of Scotland since 1975.
If I am sometimes cynical about the photographs in this annual publication it is because I am also very fond of the contents and what it tells us about the social history of photography in the twentieth century. I also have to ask myself what these reviews say about me as I select a handful of shots from each year, surely revealing my own subjective likes and dislikes. (Answers on a postcard please).
