Charles Bean’s war

Composite photo of scenes from the Western Front. Photo shows a shell hole in the foreground, Australian troops treating their wounded compatriots surrounded by a war-ravaged field, and a dramatic dark clouded sky with bright breaks of sunshine in the background.
Composite photo of the Western Front by Frank Hurley

© Public domain

You were joined on the Western Front by photographers Hubert Wilkins and Frank Hurley, who's with us tonight. Frank, you produced some of the most iconic images of Australia's participation in the First World War as well as introducing some revolutionary wartime photographic techniques. Can you describe your 'composite' photos and tell us why you chose this method?

Today we are familiar with the manipulation of photos using applications like PhotoShop. But during the First World War, Frank Hurley was breaking new ground with composite images (.docx 528kB) in his bid to overcome the difficulties of shooting on the Western Front. Frank Hurley combined several photos into one to represent the war as he saw it.