Missing, A Contemporary Study of the Battle of the Somme Landscape

Missing is a photographic exhibition of the Somme Landscape to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle in which thousands of Irish men fought and died. Photographer Aidan Crawley’s great uncle, Sgt. Lawrence Crawley was killed on the final day of the Battle, on 13 November 1916. Originally a constable in the RIC, he volunteered for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and served in the 10th Battalion. The 10th known as ‘the commercials’, fought as part of the 63rd Royal Naval Division in the Battle of Ancre, which was the last major offensive in the Battle of the Somme. He is commemorated with the other 74,000 missing of the Somme on the Thiepval Memorial. The title of the exhibition also refers to the fact that, until recently, the history of Irish participation in World War I was missing from the narrative of Irish history in the Republic of Ireland.

 

The photographs have been taken on 6 x 6 medium format colour negative film and are printed on fine art photographic paper.

 

Image; Aidan Crawley