In the song "The Green Fields of France" by Eric Bogle, Willie McBride is mentioned to have a photograph of himself, even though he died back in 1916, as if it was a normal thing back then. But weren't photographs extremely rare things back then?

Question

Peter Banos · Accepted Answer

Not really; the Kodak company began marketing cameras and film that ordinary folk could use in the 1880s, and by WWI photography had become a popular pastime. Not as popular as today, with our pocket-sized gadgets, but lots of people still have photos of ancestors of theirs from that period.

Anonymous · Answer

Taking photographs, especially portraits was actually very common by 1914. Photos were taken at weddings or other important occasions and certainly before a soldier went off to war, to give to family or wife/sweetheart. I’d say it was uncommon not to have a portrait taken before shipping out to the front.

Even during the American Civil War, some half a century prior, millions of photos were taken of soldiers, mostly in the form of posed portraits.

So there would have been nothing at all unusual to have a portrait from 1916.

Jumpsuit67 · Answer

Photography was quite common then, although cameras were bulky and selfies were a challenge!

Jonathan Abarbanel · Answer

Photography was invented in the 1830s and had become commonplace by the 1860s. Cheap box cameras—which anyone could use to take “snapshots”—were invented in the late 1880s. I do not intend to insult you, but your question shows considerable ignorance about the history of photography. A 30-second Google search would have given you sufficient knowledge NOT to ask this question, which you should consider an embarrassment.

John Gill · Answer

No; photography developed (pun intentional) rapidly from its primitive start around 1840, and by the 1860s was normal, if not yet a yawner. By the 20th Century it was commonplace.

Clara B. · Answer

You know about Cottingley right? The girls came from working class families. The older one borrowed her father's camera for the 1st 2 images. That was in 1917.

Jeremie Le Guen · Answer

There are actually a number of songs that are linked to post-WW2 French colonial wars, but they are more linked to the Foreign Legion than they are to the general culture of France itself.

However, what makes them particularly interesting is that they are generally direct translations, sung in French, of WW2 Wehrmacht songs. The reason being, of course, that many Wehrmacht soldiers joined the Foreign Legion after the war and fought in Indo-China.

One of those songs is “J'avais un camarade”, which is “Ich hatte ein Kamarade”, which was sung after a fellow soldier was killed in battle. It is quite a beautiful, haunting song, and a dignified tribute to a fallen comrade in my opinion. It is worth noting here that it doesn't have Nazi connotions even in the German original, being older than the Nazi regime.

Mohamed Bouah · Answer

This what they said mayne:

What is the message of the song The Green Fields of France?

Author Eric Bogle says the song was 'subtle reminder' of Irish war dead. Singer-songwriter Eric Bogle said he wrote The Green Fields of France as a response to the anti-Irish sentiment in Britain during the IRA bombing campaign of the 1970s.

here the link:

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/green-fields-of-france-written-to-tackle-anti-irish-prejudice-1.2108217

James Henry · Answer

Boris Vian’s “Le Deserteur”, perhaps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5_vcVq_vSE