Extended Edition Book on Dawson Now Available

Thanks to new input that we received from the United States and Austria, a new extended edition of the book on Albert K. Dawson and his photographic work during World War I is now available on the Amazon websites in America and Europe.

With special thanks to Norbert Brown (Vincennes) and Sema Colpan (Vienna) for their invaluable information from over here and over there!

In this new edition, the reader will learn more on Dawson's first photographic assignments, his youth in his hometown Vincennes, Indiana, his reports in Vincennes on the Great War, as well as the letters that he wrote to his family on his experiences in wartime Europe.

Over 30 new pages have been added to this edition of Shooting the Great War: Albert Dawson and the American Correspondent Film Company, 1914-1918.

Albert K. Dawson, portrait from Vincennes Capital,  9 december 1911

Link to newspaper article 

New Edition Dawson Book Available Next Month

The book on World War I cinematographer Albert Dawson has been received well - particularly in his hometown Vincennes, Indiana. We got some great comments from local (film) history fans, and as a result the authors also received new information that we will incorporate in a new edition, to be printed next month in December 2013.

Thank you all!

Armistice Day 2013

November 11, 2013 - Armistice Day. The First World War ended 95 years ago. As a special feature, here's a picture copied from the American Legion Magazine of June 1942, showing Albert Dawson when he was a Captain in the United States Signal Corps, directing war pictures.

Link to high res image

Elephant As War Horse, 1915

An unusual sight: Albert Dawson captured this scene of an elephant being used for for construction work by the German army on the Western Front in early 1915.

Link to high res image

U.S. Signal Corps Photographers Behind the Camera

U.S. Signal Corps cinematographers, photographed by Dawson in 1917, handling the Akeley "pancake" camera. This new model also was used on the European battlefields during World War I.

Link to high res image

Book Review from Vincennes, Indiana

Doug Carroll, from Dawson's hometown Vincennes, Indiana, published the following review on Shooting the Great War - thank you, Doug, for your enthusiastic support to our project!

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book and Story, November 3, 2013

By 

Douglas Carroll - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting the Great War: Albert Dawson and the American Correspondent Film Company, 1914-1918 (Paperback)

I have had the pleasure to read "Shooting the Great War" in both its pre-run and final print editions and now I am grateful to know the story of Albert Dawson. However, that is not the amazing part of this book. Ron van Dopperen and his colleagues have brought to life a story that took place 100 years ago in World War I. The writing is so informative yet an easy read and the photographs are worth the price of the book. Thanks for sharing the amazing story of this talented American.

Second Book Edition

On November 3, 2013, a second edition of the book on World War I cinematographer Albert K. Dawson has been published. Apart from some minor editorial changes, the authors added some updated new information on the historical background story concerning Dawson's remarkable experiences as a cameraman following the trail of the German, Austrian and Bulgarian armies in 1915-1916.

For the latest edition, go to the Amazon.com website:

 http://tinyurl.com/netze8q
 
The book is also available through Amazon on websites in the UK and Germany.

The Catacombs of War

German trench line system around Soissons, Western Front February 1915, pictured by Albert Dawson. Natural caves were converted to dug outs to fortify the German lines.

Link to high res image

Infantry Charge Western Front, 1915

German infantry charge on the Western Front, captured by Albert Dawson in 1915. Both his film footage and a still picture of this scene is reproduced in the book Shooting The Great War, now available on Amazon.com

Film scene retrieved in WW1 History Channel documentary 

Link to high res image 

German Taube in Flight

Nicknamed "the Dove", this German World War I fighter plane was photographed by Dawson in 1915. A lucky shot, he captured this spectacular scene at the exact moment when the plane flew above him. The picture ended up on the cover of the New York Times War Pictorial.

Link to high res image

Movie scene: The Spade Brigade

Scene from Dawson's war film "The Battle and Fall of Przemysl": Austrian engineers moving up to the firing line at dawn.

Link to high res image

Book on Dawson now available

Starting October 21, 2013, the new book on Albert Dawson and his remarkable experiences as a cinematographer during World War I is available on Amazon, both in the USA and in the United Kingdom and Germany. The book will also be made available for bookstores throughout the United States.

Check out this link for more:


http://tinyurl.com/netze8q

Film scene Dawson on Eastern Front

Watch Albert Dawson online at the website of the Imperial War Museum in London.

This clip shows him inspecting the ruined forts of Przemysl in June 1915. Rows of Russian soldiers were shot dead by Austrian machine guns around Fort no. 10.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060023359

Cover Shooting the Great War

Foreword "Shooting the Great War" by Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow in 2010 when he received an honorary Oscar Award for his role in film history in film preservation

Our new book Shooting the Great War on World War I cinematographer Albert K. Dawson, soon to be available on Amazon.com, will have a foreword by Kevin Brownlow. His magnificent book The War, the West and the Wilderness (1979) made us realize the unresearched weath of research opportunities into this subject. 

Thank you, Kevin, for your valuable support to this project!

Wikipedia article on Albert K. Dawson

Albert K. Dawson with Kodak camera, 1917

Link to high res image

Learn more on World War I cinematographer Albert K. Dawson at www.wikipedia.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_K._Dawson

New book on cameraman Albert K. Dawson

Almost a hundred years ago, the First World War broke out. Although some military conflicts had been photographed before, the Great War was the first modern war to be recorded on film. To commemorate the upcoming Centennial of the First World War, film historians Ron van Dopperen and Cooper C. Graham have started on a book on Albert K. Dawson, one of the most remarkable cinematographers of the Great War.