10. Volunteers
Process No Props | No Poppies | No Expressions of Grief | Anger | Fear | No Celebration of Victory | No Soapboxing About the Futility of War
12 photographs. 12 current KES students holding a portrait of a KES student killed in WW1.100 years on… 17 or 18 years of age. The singularly consistent connection between the two students.Reflection. Contemplation. What if’s and maybes… To mark 100 years since the end of the ‘war to end all wars’. Students ‘volunteered’ to take their place in front of the camera and have their photograph taken. The black ominous background and flat lighting technique were crucial to create an image that, when printed at ‘life-size’ gave the impression of the two figures emerging from or sinking back into the darkness. The photographs were taken in the rooms now occupied by Art and Photography. These were once science labs. The students from 100 years ago could well have had one of their last lessons in this room before marching off to the mud, blood and trenches of the Western Front.
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen.
