Image: Fred C Palmer Royal Fusiliers portrait WWI

Description: Postcard photo of a group of Royal Fusiliers of the City of London Regiment, during World War I. The location would be in the Herne Bay or Canterbury area. The photographer was Fred C. Palmer of Tower Studio, Herne Bay, Kent (as printed on the back of the card). He lived there 1903-1922, and is believed to have died 1936-1939. The soldiers based closest to Palmer's studio in 1914-1915 were The Buffs, (East Kent Regiment), which raised nine battalions in World War I. (Today the Buffs are amalgamated into the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.) Points of interest Palmer has put the camera in a very low position, giving the standing lads the appearance of height and dignity. The intense stare of the seated soldier in the centre is unsettling; did he know the situation he was going into? In the far background on the left is either a large building with fancy roof, or a rectangular form of big top tent. In the bottom left hand corner, Palmer has written the number 10 in ink on the negative, so this photo is one of a series. Border The remaining border of this image is important for researchers of this photographer. Some photographers trimmed their images more than others, and Palmer has a reputation for producing smaller postcards than other early 20th century UK photographers. He took his own photos, developed them in-house onto postcard-backed photographic paper and trimmed them himself. It is worth adding that during hand-developing the border is actively masked with equipment which both crops the picture and causes the white frame or border to appear on the paper. This frame is part of the design and is one of the reasons why the quality of Palmer's work is so interesting, and why there is an article and category for him on English Wiki. Researchers need to see exactly where the edge of the postcard is. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Title: Fred C Palmer Royal Fusiliers portrait WWI
Credit: Scan of original postcard in my possession
Author: Fred C. Palmer (died 1936-1939)
Permission: out of copyright
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No