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HELEN JOHNS KIRTLAND

 

PHOTOGRAPHER

​

page 1

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland with Italian soldiers near Piave River, Italy

Photograph shows American photographer Helen Johns Kirtland conversing

with soldiers outdoors; one soldier holds newspaper La Tribuna Illustrata.

October 1918

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18
Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

[close up]

Helen Johns Kirtland with Italian soldiers near Piave River, Italy

Photograph shows American photographer Helen Johns Kirtland conversing

with soldiers outdoors; one soldier holds newspaper La Tribuna Illustrata.

October 1918

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Italian soldier holding illustrated newspaper gets his cigarette lit by another soldier

near Piave River, Italy

October 1918

 Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland in trench during World War I;

she is wearing a helmet and great coat, and has a gas mask hanging around her neck

between 1917 and 1919

Exhibited: "Who's Afraid of Women Photographers?"

at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France, Oct. 2015-Jan. 2016.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland listening for aircraft using acoustic radar

Photograph shows American photographer Helen Johns Kirtland

listening through tubes as two soldiers stand by smoking.

between 1918 and 1919

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Flirting with the monocle on horseback

Photograph shows Helen Johns Kirtland, standing in an open car,

riding on a beach with men in uniform as soldiers march past.

ca. 1919

​

Exhibited:

"Who's Afraid of Women Photographers?"

at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France, Oct. 2015-Jan. 2016.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

 

​

Helen Johns Kirtland was an early woman war photojournalist active

at the end of World War I.

 

She was the “the first and only woman correspondent allowed at the front

after Caporetto, the 1917 Italian retreat in which 275,000 troops were captured.”

​

As a photojournalist, Kirtland worked for Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly in Europe a

nd was also associated with the YMCA, which provided physical fitness

and swimming classes to the soldiers.

 

Like many of her male colleagues, she covered a variety of subjects that required

facing danger and capturing images that could be readily published to convey

the war visually.

​

In 1981, the Library of Congress received a gift from Mark and Birk Hinderaker of some four thousand photos taken by Helen and her husband Lucian Swift Kirtland.

 

The Kirtland Collection at the Library of Congress includes about

two hundred images of World War I and its aftermath.

 

The earliest images are family portraits, and the bulk of the collection represents

their post war travels in Europe and Asia. Although relatively little documentation has been found to date, Helen’s life and career merit further study.

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland at spent mine, probably near Ypres, Belgium

1919

Gift/Purchase; Ivan and Hinderaker/Walter Grossman; 1981

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland in open car surrounded by Italian soldiers near Piave River, Italy

Photograph shows American photographer Helen Johns Kirtland

being driven in a car with the top down.

October 1918

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

School children viewing an exhibition of English World War I posters, possibly in Russia

between 1918 and 1919

Possible location of exhibition based on Cyrillic alphabet

on sign beneath poster in similar photograph.

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Wounded soldiers viewing an exhibition of English World War I posters, possibly in Russia

between 1918 and 1919

Possible location of exhibition based on Cyrillic alphabet

on sign beneath poster in similar photograph.

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland leaning on a globe

Photograph shows a portrait of Helen Johns Kirtland, full-length, facing right,

leaning on a massive globe, with a wall of book shelves in the background.

ca. 1919

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Lucian and Helen Johns Kirtland, full-length portrait, facing front, both holding cameras

between 1910 and 1920

Lucian Kirtland Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

At ease in the front line trenches

Photograph shows Helen Johns Kirtland, seated, and her husband, Lucian S. Kirtland, standing.

ca. 1919

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helen Johns Kirtland Lucian Swift WW1 1914 1918 photographer guerre 14 18

Helen Johns Kirtland seated at table with Italian military officers near Piave River, Italy

Photograph shows American photographer Helen Johns Kirtland

with group of Italian military officers at table covered with bottles of wine.

October 1918

Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland photographs of World War I in Europe

(Library of Congress).

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