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Carla-Jean Stokes

@carlajeanstokes.bsky.social

1.4K followers 250 following 310 posts

MAs in history and photographic preservation + collections management | Historian of First World War photography 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 | Museum Jill of all trades https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/T/The-Taking-of-Vimy-Ridge

www.wlupress.wlu.ca

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 16d

Copies of my book 'The Taking of Vimy Ridge: First World War Photographs of William Ivor Castle' are making their way out into the world, just ahead of the official release date of Oct 7!

Be sure to head to your fav indy bookshop and order a copy, or you can request it at your local library.

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Reposted by Carla-Jean Stokes

Alex Bowers @bowerswrites.bsky.social · 6h

My latest Legion Magazine article is an interview with military historian and educator-turned-children’s book author, Kelsey Lonie. Her debut tome, Whitey’s Journey, tells the true story of a Canadian dog mascot in WW II.

📸 Heritage House Publishing

legionmagazine.com/childrens-bo...

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 9h

If you've toured the battlefields in person, this really comes across, IMO. It's so wild to see such beautiful sites (today) and know its the final resting place for people who endured terrible events.

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

As the Canadian Corps began liberating towns throughout France, Rider-Rider photographed tighter cityscapes.

Stay tuned for those!

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

I think that these wide landscapes (we actually see them right from August 8 and into October) are some of the most powerful (and beautiful, I said it) images of Canadians at war.

I love them more than I can really intelligibly articulate.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

Canadians making practise attack with tanks, William Rider-Rider, October 1918, Library and Archives Canada MIKAN 3404586.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

Three villages fired by the Germans before evacuating, William Rider-Rider, September 1918, Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN 3403966.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

Photographs of Fall bring us to William Rider-Rider's images of the Hundred Days. When the war became--increasingly--one of movement, this was reflected in Rider-Rider's photographs. Towards the end of the war we see soldiers as small figures in a vast landscape.

Canadians advancing on the Arras front, William Rider-Rider, 2 September, 1918, Library and Archives Canada MIKAN 3522266.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10h

I love reviewing Canadian official First World War photographs in real time. Fall is an especially great season for this.

👇Here's why.

Canadians looking at German trench mortar ammunition, William Rider-Rider, October 1918, Library and Archives Canada MIKAN 3397962.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 13h

Yesterday was official publication day!

Grab yourself a copy or request The Taking of Vimy Ridge at your local library. (Extra points if they have comfortable chairs).

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 16d

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 4d

A Nurse being presented by some wounded Canadians with a dog brought out of the trenches with them, William Ivor Castle, October 1916, Library and Archives Canada.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 5d

Spotted: nerding out about heritage at @mackielakehouse.bsky.social

Reposted by Carla-Jean Stokes

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 7d

Writing a name for a cross on a grave at the front, William Ivor Castle, October 1916, Library and Archives Canada.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 7d

I've walked numerous battlefields and viewed thousands of war graves as they exist today, but later having the chance to see photographs that show us the wartime burial process (which is sometimes portrayed far more graphically than this) has been extremely impactful for me.

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 7d

Writing a name for a cross on a grave at the front, William Ivor Castle, October 1916, Library and Archives Canada.

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Reposted by Carla-Jean Stokes

Wilfrid Laurier University Press @wlupress.bsky.social · 12d

Coming Soon! The Taking of Vimy Ridge: First World War Photographs of William Ivor Castle, by Carla-Jean Stokes, explores the life and works of a Canadian official First World War photographer known for staging and manipulating his photographs. Preorder now at
www.wlupress.wlu.ca/...

The book cover features a truck convoy of celebrating soldiers, and an endorsement from historian Jonathan F. Vance: “The Taking of Vimy Ridge is essential reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of First World War photography.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 8d

Photographs by Ivor Castle (?)* and William Rider-Rider, June 1917 and June 1918, Library and Archives Canada.

*The photograph of Tom Longboat does not have clear creatorship. Descendants of Castle claim he took it, while Rider-Rider claimed that the photograph was his.

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 8d

Two portray famous runners, Tom Longboat and Joe Keeper.

And, with a note apt for today, Longboat remarked of his time attending the Mohawk Institute Residential School: “I wouldn’t even send my dog to that place.”

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 8d

(This number doesn't include un-official photographs, or photographs showing Indigenous sitters but not explicitly saying so).

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 8d

It's quite simple to show the variety of photographs explicitly portraying Indigenous sitters that reside in the Canadian official First World War collection, because there are just two or three to be found.

Photograph showing Tom Longboat purchasing a newspaper from a little boy, June 1917, Library and Archives Canada. This photograph may be by Ivor Castle or by William Rider-Rider.

Photograph of Joe Keeper winning a race, William Rider-Rider, June 1918, Library and Archives Canada.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 8d

If they're in order of production, which I strongly suspect they are (based on a quick glance) there is a relatively easy way of mapping across collections for interoperability.

Let me know if you ever want to chat about it.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 9d

Incredible. Looks like the whole collection compiled in albums and in order of production date. Time for a visit to London!

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 9d

Incredible scenes!

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 9d

German wounded prisoners being dressed, William Ivor Castle, September 1916, Library and Archives Canada.

(That stare! This is IMO an extremely striking photograph from early in Castle's tenure on the front).

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Reposted by Carla-Jean Stokes

Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10d

I've talked a lot about the times Castle famously staged or manipulated his photographs (like Over the Top), but the major contribution my new book makes to this historiography is: 💥 revealing additional manipulated photographs for the first time 💥

A shrapnel burst over Canadian first line trench, William Ivor Castle, September 1916, Library and Archives Canada.

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Carla-Jean Stokes @carlajeanstokes.bsky.social · 10d

/shameless self promotion

Happy Sunday!