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Original press photograph showing French soldier holding the line with rifles draw towards German soldiers. The location of the photograph is unknown, however, depicts the conditions many soldiers fought in on the front lines.

In 1914, as the outbreak of World War I brought mass slaughter to Europe’s battlefields, photojournalism evolved rapidly in the muddy trenches, where 19th century tactics met 20th century weapons. Machine guns, airplanes, tanks, flamethrowers, poisonous gas and submarines were widely used for the first time against doomed troops that were sent by their generals into frontal attacks that left millions dead. This unimaginable carnage was witnessed by photographers who for the first time got close enough to the front to document combat, as well as scenes of soldiers at rest and at play.