Approach to Langemark German cemetery

When people ask about the work of the Remembrance Image Project, I normally tell them that primarily it aims to do three things:

• to photograph a selection of WW1 sites at or close to their 100th anniversary.  The aim is to create images which are both a record of the sites at their centenary, and which also capture something of the emotion or spirit of each location.
• to share these images with others, through exhibitions, presentations, talks and other media; and in so doing to promote awareness and debate about the war and about the role of remembrance.
• to encourage others to create their own photographic images of remembrance, and to share these with the project as a means of opening up and spreading the discussion about the centenary.

It’s clear from those three that whilst creating photographs is a key part of the project, it is by no means the end of the story.  It is equally important to share those images with others, wherever possible in such a way as to foster debate, and hopefully also encourage a degree of participation in the project.

With all that in mind, I’m pleased to report that the interactive elements of the project have started to gain some real momentum over the past few months:

• The project now has almost 600 followers on Twitter.  I am very grateful for all the support, interest and “onward sharing” which this ever-growing band of followers is offering!  The Facebook following, though slower to grow, is nonetheless developing too, and has seen the sharing of some really interesting comments and photographic contributions from other interested parties around the world.
• I have now given the first of a series of public presentations on the project – in this first instance to a retirement group in London, who were very willing to engage in debate and discussion and were kind enough to give me some positive feedback on what I presented.  More community group presentations are scheduled over the coming months to groups as diverse as retirement circles, school workshops, camera clubs, the Women’s Institute and library groups, and I look forward to sharing and hearing more from the participants in those.  As ever, please just contact me if you are interested in a presentation on the project for a group with which you are involved.
• I have been fortunate to be asked to contribute to my own local Council’s centenary planning group, which is proving a really useful network for exchanging and developing ideas.
• Ultimately, I would like to share some of what I have learned so far on the project by taking others to visit battlefields and sites, and with that in mind I was privileged to attend a battlefield guide training day run by Travel Guide Training and Validation.  If anyone else has ambitions to be a battlefield guide, I cannot recommend this course highly enough.  Meantime, I am continuing to work on my own credentials in this area – of which more in future updates!