Uncovering men who fell contesting the crater at Zouave Woods, stormed by the irresistable 6th Div. 1915 - 1918

This is a stereoscopic photograph, made around the time of the First World War, showing soldiers uncovering the bodies of fallen comrades at Zouave Woods. The image creates meaning through a contrast between its documentary style and its propagandistic caption, boasting about the ‘irresistible’ Sixth Division. It was ‘realistically’ made for mass consumption, as part of a series of images that were issued for public information. The photograph reflects the complex social and political conditions of its time: it was made in a country involved in a brutal war, whose institutions were engaged in shaping public opinion about it. As historians, our job is to dig beneath the surface. We can consult war diaries, military reports, and newspaper archives to better understand the photograph's meanings, and the complex social and institutional forces that produced it. Through such analysis, we learn to appreciate how the meaning of art is contingent on its social and institutional context.