The Living Allied Flags, Mole & Thomas, 1918

5,000 Bluejackets, enlisted US sailors, are posed by photographers Arthur Mole and John Thomas into the emblems of France, Great Britain, the US, and Italy. 
 
When the United States entered World War I, the US military commissioned photographer Arthur Mole and his assistant John Thomas of Chicago to make a series of extraordinary group portraits. Between 1915 and 1921, they choreographed thousands of military personnel into formations of American patriotic symbols, emblems, and military insignia. In this image, 5,000 Bluejackets (enlisted US sailors) at the US Naval Training Station in Pelham Bay, New York are arranged into the emblems of France, Great Britain, the US, and Italy. The buildings of the base are visible in the back. Mole used anamorphic perspective to photograph these formations from an 80-foot viewing tower using an 11 x 14-inch camera and he called them “living photographs.” Mole & Thomas images are a triumph of the imagination and a great example of the use of perspective.
 
Photographer: Arthur Mole (1889-1983) & John Thomas (died 1947) 
Format: Gelatin Silver Print
Size: 11 x 13.5
Condition: Very Good