Canadians Capturing the War

I watched an interesting documentary on CBC a couple of weeks ago called Love, Hate and Propaganda. It profiled the role that film and photography played in promoting the war both for the Nazis and the Allies. When Allied troops stormed the shores of Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) they were joined by an unprecedented number of photographers and videographers. Leaders on both sides of the war recognized the importance of visual documentation of what was happening on the lines, of how these images could sway, inspire and enrage the public. Photographers came from all over Canada, joining the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, to bring an idea of what war looked like to civilians all over the world.

Infantry near Nijmegen, Holland. Painting by Alex Colville.

Source

But, interest in visual war documenting did not begin with WWII. Artists have been sent to capture the images of war for ages. Some of the art world's most celebrated artists walked the front lines with the duty of painting the atrocities of warfare. Canadians, A.Y Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Frederick Varley, all from the Group of Seven, took part in World War I as official war painters; during the World War II, Alex Colville took up the brush. Sending an artist to do a documentarian's job has interesting results, I find their work tends to be more evocative, like violence and destruction tempered by a mood of regret or sorrow.


Visit the Love, Hate and Propaganda Site here.