By Master Sailor Marilou Villeneuve-Last, Imagery Technician
You are on parade, looking straight ahead, waiting to be inspect by the commander and his team when suddenly, a camera appears and a flash blind you. Then it disappears. Yes, you just got blown away by the work of an Imagery Technician. In those few seconds, the technician makes many decisions to capture a good photo. And those images are a testimony of the Canadian Armed Forces History.
The Imagery Technician trade was once named Photo Technician or War photographer. It is a recent trade in the military. Before 1916, we didn’t have official photographer. Individuals like Captain James Peters, who was an artillery officers, put their passion to work and recorded images of the 1885 Northwest Rebellion as an amateur photographer.
It was with the formation of Canadian War Records Office (CWRO) by Lord Beaverbrook in January 1916 that the trade of war photographer was born. Under the CWRO, you could find war photographer and war artist. They work together to record the life of soldiers on the front with a personal eye. On the intelligence perspective, intelligence photography through the air gave precious information on the terrain, the enemy positions, their movement and were crucial assets in developing strategies to defeat the opponent.
But being a war photographer was not easy during WWI. They had to carry heavy cameras (film was not yet invented so images were captured on glass plate), chemicals, fragile glass plate with their soldier’s kit and weapon. But their involvement helped in winning battles like Vimy Ridge and ultimately, the war.
What does this have to do with Base Borden? Well, it was on July 1st, 1917 that the first photography course was introduced to Royal Flying Corps students to learn aerial camera operations. In other words, it was on that date that the Imagery Technician trade was born.
With the invention of film in the 30’s, when WWII started, war photographer were able to record the action not only with still images but also moving films and get close to the action. The trade was then divided within the elements with specifics purpose: with the Royal Canadian Air Forces, intelligence was the main effort; for the Army, intelligence and recording daily activities of the troop; for the Royal Canadian Navy, the main goal was to record daily activities as well as propaganda and news.
With the evolution of technology and the Internet, Imagery Technician records images from all over the world. The mandate didn’t change much over the years. They are the witness of the military history, they still play a key role in gathering information, they provide imagery support for investigation, and they create videos that records our troops in action. They work are displayed everywhere, on the walls, in the newspaper, on social media and on TV. They are the eyes and ears of the Canadian Armed Forces. Veritas
