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WWI Camp Dodge - Living Statue of Liberty

 

"On a stifling July day in 1918, 18,000 officers and soldiers posed as Lady Liberty on the parade [drill] grounds at Camp Dodge." [This area was west of Baker St. and is currently the area around building S34 and to the west.] "According to a July 3, 1986, story in the Fort Dodge Messenger, many men fainted-they were dressed in woolen uniforms-as the temperature neared 105 degrees Farenheit. The photo, taken from the top of a specially constructed tower by a Chicago photography studio, Mole & Thomas, was intended to help promote the sale of war bonds but was never used." (Grover 1987)

   
U.S. Army Human Statue of Liberty at Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Location of portrait on parade grounds.
   

Many examples of Mole's patriotic photographs in true perspective still exist. Pay close attention to the way spatial depth and perspective is defied. As in the Statue of Liberty there are twice as many men in the flame of the torch as in the rest of the design.

Here are just a few examples:

 

U.S. Navy, Great Lakes, Illinois

U.S. Navy, Great Lakes, Illinois.

 

U.S. Army Human American Eagle at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

10,000 men at U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois.

30,000 officers at Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan. http://www.georgeglazer.com/prints/americana/moleshield.html

 

9,000 Marines at U.S. Marines, Paris Island, South Carolina. http://www.georgeglazer.com/prints/americana/molemarines.html

 

25,000 Officers and men at Camp Dix in New Jersey. (click image to view larger)
 
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