Sélectionner votre langue : English

- 04 -142015

“One hundred years of photography in the French Armed Forces”. Eleventh episode. Claude Cuny : propaganda through photography and the Algeria War.

Images were a vital issue in the Algerian war. On the French side, the conflict was widely photographed by the army’s official staff and presented as an operation to maintain order and protect the people from terrorism.

Patrouille menée par la police et des hommes du 9e régiment des zouaves (RZ) lors des opérations de quadrillage de la Casbah et du 9e arrondissement destinées à endiguer la vague de terrorisme sévissant à Alger, Algérie, 29 juin 1956 © ECPAD / Claude Cuny

Suspect sous la surveillance d'un soldat et d'un chien lors d'une opération militaire dans l'Aurès, Algérie, 24 avril 1955 © ECPAD / Claude CunyCentralised in Algiers, the armed forces film service (SCA) had a team of between seven and thirty operators, who travelled throughout Algeria at the request of the press and information office (BPI), which coordinated their activities. Mostly voluntary recruits, like Claude Cuny, the photographers had to À la recherche de suspects, des gendarmes et soldats français vérifient l'identité des habitants de la région de Blida, devant les cadavres de fellagas abattus © ECPAD / Claude Cunysupply images for armed forces newspapers, the international press and propaganda documents produced by the French authorities.

Although they had little access to military operations, they were sent to demonstrate that results were being achieved, photographing prisoner captures, weapons seized and enemy bodies, as in the two photographs showing prisoner surveillance and an interrogation of residents next to the corpses of rebels.

Suite aux attentas d'Alger, un soldat de l'unité territoriale effectue un contrôle de police dans les transports en commun, Algérie, 23 février 1957 © ECPAD / Claude CunyProtecting the population and peacekeeping operations were another major theme. In these images, designed to give legitimacy to France’s presence in Algeria, civilian and military life are closely interwoven. The aim was to show that France was educating, protecting and caring for the Au poste de Si-Ameur, un instituteur, rappelé de la classe 52/2, fait la classe aux enfants du village, Algérie, 1er octobre 1956 © ECPAD / Claude Cunypopulation and providing a shield against an enemy that was depicted as barbaric. Teachers and military doctors are recurring themes, helping the Algerian children and women, primary subjects of these images.

Photos credits : © ECPAD / Claude Cuny

 

Ajouter un commentaire

* champs obligatoires