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World War 1 Memorials
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I paid a visit to the Somme in France and Flanders in Belgium. the scene of years of horrific and ultimate sacrifice by many (too many) young men between 1914 to 1918. What strikes you most is the absolute serenity of the place. There is a breath-taking realisation that this brutal mass killing actually happened. World War 1 is not just a collection of old war stories, laced with deeds of valor and bravery or black and white film footage seen over and over again.
Here, you walk on the very soil that soaked up lakes of fresh blood. Here, you walk above the still buried remains of thousands of young lads who have yet to be uncovered.
Bodies and unspent munitions are regularly found by local farmers and utility service providers.
But there is a beauty about the place, a peace and tranquility, an air of reverence.
Irish, English, French, South African, Canadian, Australian, German, many many nationalities lie in these fields and are remembered.
My visits were in Autumn and the colours just lent themselves to the atmosphere.
If ever one needs to take stock of the problems and hardship we face now, this area puts it all into perspective.
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Mill Road Cemetery taken from the Ulster Tower, near Thiepval, France.
The remains of trenches under Delville Wood, now home to the South African Memorial Garden.
Base of massive memorial to the Canadian dead at Vimy Ridge, France.
Silhouette of carved column at site of first Gas Attack unleashed on Canadian soldiers at, what is now called Vancouver Corner, outside Ieper, Belgium.
Bronze statue of a lone Caribou, looking out over the killing fields at Beaumont-Hamel, France
Tyne-Cot Cemetery, Where mostly British are buried. This was the area of the quagmire of Flanders which took nearly as many lives as enemy gunfire.I hope to add more photographs over time, some I have on file and more which I hope to take on future visits.
Really nice set JoJo. I particularly like the statue at Vimy Ridge. Good angle. I’d even ‘up’ the contrast a bit more. Maybe try some different B&W conversion methods perhaps?
The ‘calculation” and ‘channel mixer’ would be my prefered methods. i think there are 12 in total (using photoshop) You can google them.
this is a good tutorial if your intrested.
http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phs8bwconversion.pdf
Thanks for sharing these images and reminding us again of this tragic period in Europes history.
bren
really nice set you have here… would love to visit there. My dad went last year with friends of the somme society… really enjoyed it
Thanks folks. Good to get feedback, and yeah, Tommy, it’s well worth a visit.
Thanks Brendan. Had a look at PS page. This is what I like about this site, plenty of good tips and info.
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