Ernest Brooks (photographer)
Ernest Brooks | |
---|---|
WWI images | |
Children | 2 |
Awards | Order of the Crown (Belgium) Croix de Guerre |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Lieut._Ernest_Brooks%2C_official_photographer_on_the_Western_Front.jpg/220px-Lieut._Ernest_Brooks%2C_official_photographer_on_the_Western_Front.jpg)
Ernest Brooks (23 February 1876 – 1957) was a British photographer, best known for his war photography from the First World War. He was the first official photographer to be appointed by the British military, and produced several thousand images between 1915 and 1918, more than a tenth of all British official photographs taken during the war. His work was often posed and formal, but several of his less conventional images are marked by a distinctive use of silhouette. Before and immediately after the war he worked as an official photographer to the Royal Family, but was dismissed from this appointment and stripped of his official honours in 1925, for reasons that were not officially made public.
Early life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Wiltshire_Regiment_Thiepval_7_August_1916.jpg/220px-Wiltshire_Regiment_Thiepval_7_August_1916.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/British_wounded_Bernafay_Wood_19_July_1916.jpg/220px-British_wounded_Bernafay_Wood_19_July_1916.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/NLS_Haig_-_Troops_moving_up_at_eventide_-_men_of_a_Yorkshire_regiment_on_the_march_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-NLS_Haig_-_Troops_moving_up_at_eventide_-_men_of_a_Yorkshire_regiment_on_the_march_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Brooks was born on 23 February 1876 at
After leaving school in 1890, he worked as a boy on the estates, where one of his duties was to look after a mule given to
Career
His first encounter with photography came after he took a position in the household of Lady Vivian, widow of
Realising that he could support himself on this income, Brooks left Lady Vivian's employment, and returned to Windsor. Here, he worked as a freelance newspaper photographer, using his contacts within the royal household to arrange access to his subjects. After a short period, he became an official photographer to the Royal Family. In 1906 he accompanied
Brooks' photographs were published in numerous newspapers including the
In late 1910, he accompanied the Duke of Connaught to South Africa, and the next year went with King George V to India for the Delhi Durbar, where he had the opportunity to photograph the King on a tiger hunt as well as in more formal contexts.[14] After returning from India he left the royal household to open a studio on Buckingham Palace Road in central London,[15] meanwhile continuing to describe himself as the Official Photographer to the King and Queen.[16]
World War I
After the outbreak of the First World War he served in the
He was the only professional photographer to cover the
After the war
He later returned to royal service, accompanying the
For reasons that were not publicly disclosed, in 1925 his appointment as a royal photographer was cancelled
In 1926, he filed for
Brooks later moved with his wife to Hendon, where he lived until his death in 1957.[35]
Style and legacy
Much of his wartime work, though technically proficient and consistent,[36] was rather conventional, often involving posed photographs rather than more candid impromptu shots of his subjects.[37] His work was noted as being characterised by a "conscious seeking after a publishable photograph",[36] and it was recorded that he occasionally persuaded soldiers to pose for staged pictures of routine activity in the trenches.[38] However, he was insistent that combat photographs were never faked – "we have strict instructions not to do – we have never done it".[39] He had a fondness for a dramatic use of silhouette, with images composed to show soldiers walking along a ridge against the light. These images, where individual men were not easily recognisable, often were used to illustrate the "anonymous heroes" of the war.[40]
Brooks was the first and the longest-serving of the British war photographers, and took more than 4,400 images.[41] This was the most of any individual photographer, and represented more than 10% of all the official photographs.[42] A large collection of his photographs is now held by the Imperial War Museum, and a second collection is held by the National Library of Scotland as part of Earl Haig's papers; both have been digitised.
Several formal images from his pre-war service with the Royal Family are held by the
References
- ^ Imperial War Museum. "The First World War 1914 – 1918: The Western Front: The Somme Offensive 1916 (Q 1142)". Imperial War Museum Collections Search. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Imperial War Museum. "The Battle of the Somme 1 July – 18 November 1916 (Q 800)". Imperial War Museum Collections Search. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Imperial War Museum. "Official First World War Photographers (Q 2978)". Imperial War Museum Collections Search. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ National Library of Scotland. "(311) C.2494 – Troops moving up at eventide – men of a Yorkshire regiment on the march". First World War 'Official Photographs'. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Draycott Moor is taken from the 1881 census; in later censuses he often gave Kingston Bagpuize. The date of birth is given as 23 February 1876 in the 1939 Register, and his reported ages match this in all available censuses, but in his Royal Naval service record he dropped two years and gave his birth as 23 February 1878.
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 204
- 1902 Coronation procession – and likely in 1901; Brooks mentions in passing that he had "Regimental Number 1", and this appears to have been assigned in 1901.
- ^ Brooks (1921), pp. 204-5. The identification of the Vivian household ("a lady of quality") is based on the twins being Maids of Honour to Queen Alexandra, which is referred to by Brooks.
- ^ Brooks (1921), pp. 205-07.
- ^ a b Carmichael, p. 36
- ^ The Guardian carried a photograph of the "King's Children at Balmoral", 22 September 1910; this is the first picture in their files attributed to Brooks.
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 209
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 206
- ^ Brooks (1921), pp. 207-8
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 208
- ^ London telephone directory for January 1914, p. 131; 1915, p. 101
- ^ "Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service, WW1—Image details—Brooks, Ernest". DocumentsOnline. The National Archives. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
- ^ Carmichael, p. 48
- ^ Carmichael, p. 49
- ^ "No. 30302". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 September 1917. p. 9862.
- ^ Bourne, p. 40; Carmichael, p. 66
- ^ "No. 30568". The London Gazette. 8 March 1918. p. 3095.
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 211
- ^ Brooks (1921), p. 212
- ^ The Times, 6 May 1925; p. 19
- ^ "No. 33044". The London Gazette. 5 May 1925. p. 3025.
- ^ "Hockey Match Scene". Norwood News. 7 April 1925. p. 4.
- ^ "Publications". Ballymena Observer. 11 September 1925. p. 6.
- ^ "Those "Awful" Pictures which Peeved Royalty". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 27 December 1925. p. 22.
- ^ "Our Notebook". Illustrated London News. 24 October 1925. p. 16.
- ^ "No Assets". Westminster Gazette. 21 May 1926. p. 4.
- ^ "Scene at a Ball: Press Photographer who was Ejected". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. 13 July 1928. p. 5.
- .
- ^ "1939 England and Wales Register – London, Wandsworth, AXRD". ancestry.co.uk. Ancestry. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Ernest Brooks, photographer at Historic Camera". historiccamera.com.
- ^ a b Carmichael, p. 39
- ^ Carmichael, pp. 61–63
- ^ Carmichael, p. 52
- ^ Fraser
- ^ Carmichael, p. 63
- ^ Bourne, p.40
- ^ Carmichael, p. 142
- ^ "Ernest Brooks – National Portrait Gallery". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- .
Sources
- Bourne, J.M. (2001). Who's who in World War One. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-14179-6.
- Brooks, Ernest (September 1921). "The King and the Prince of Wales : some intimate and amusing anecdotes of the Royal Family". The Strand Magazine. Vol. 62, no. 362. pp. 204–213.
- Carmichael, Jane (1989). First World War photographers. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-01009-8.
- Fraser, Alastair H. (2009). "Ghosts on the Somme: New Techniques in the Analysis of Documentary Film". Stand To! (85). Western Front Association. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Collection of Brooks' photographs from National Library of Scotland (366 items)
- Collection of Brooks' photographs in the Imperial War Museum