U.S. Official War Pictures, 1917
Louis Fancher (American, 1884-1954); Division of Films, Committee on Public Information (Publisher); Hegeman Print, New York (Printer)
Lithograph on paper
On loan from the National WWI Museum and Memorial
Through the Division of Films, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) created a number of official war pictures produced to educate the American people about the war overseas. These films were seen by the public as the unequivocal truth and became a recognized form of primary reporting from the front lines. However, this perception was skewed by the CPI’s filtering of footage that did not support the propaganda machine’s agenda. This poster by novel illustrator Louis Fancher was one of the most prominent posters advertising such films. Like soldiers engaged in an active firefight, those manning the cameras wore the doughboy helmet for protection. As noted in the introduction to the adjoining film featured in this section of the exhibition, cameramen risked their lives to capture the grim realities of the Great War.