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= Photojournalism censorship in Germany during World War I = Photojournalism censorship in Germany during World War 1 was a reaction to the growing popularity of photography. Before the beginning of the war in 1914, there were few regulations on photography because it was a relatively new form of mass media. When the war began, however, concerns for photojournalism ethics, safety for both photojournalists and soldiers, and the perception of war as a nation were questioned. Military officials made it a point to put harsh restrictions on censorship immediately prohibited photographers in a war setting, which included the creation of the Higher Censorship Department and a reference book for censorship in content and distribution. Restricted photo subjects included death, defeat, classified information including military equipment and military officials or locations. Photojournalism became a trusted element in the public's eye to show the war conditions of combat, soldiers, and citizens in World War I in Germany. Photographs helped maintain control of the German narrative. After World War 1, the popularity of photojournalism grew with modern technology and was then used for propaganda during World War II.

Before WWI
Regulations on photojournalism were not commonplace before the outbreak of the war due to the then still-expanding popularity of photography. Photography as a medium was more easily able to portray fine details in a subject than that of contemporary high art. Growing public interest in photography led to the growth of periodicals, further spreading the popularity and use of photographs. Military-related uses for photography were becoming recognized because of the medium’s ability to capture fine details. Photography’s potential as an information tool was generally neglected, and many governments did not have the infrastructure in place for the control of photographs.

Beginning of WWI
Due to the lack of a consistent censorship infrastructure at the outset of the war, there were varying degrees of regulation for the photography of war matters. In the first months of the war, press freedom was heavily restricted, with foreign correspondents often unable to gain access to the front to document activities, leading to a lack of interest in the war until later in 1915. Wartime photo censorship was relegated to being forbidden to photograph and publish simple military subjects. Due to the expanding presence of photography and the then-still novel aspect of the medium, soldiers often performed to appear photogenic for camera crews, such as a 1915 account of provoking a counter firing barrage from French troops.

During WWI
When World War 1 first started documentation of the war, photojournalists were under strict controls by military officials. During the first year of the war, photojournalists could not get access to any front line conditions. Because photographers faced many restrictions, the winter before 1915 was considered a “dark age,”. Photographers could not use the camera freely nor could they publish content without sending through censorship. It was not until the summer of 1915 that amateur photographers were allowed to enter the front lines. Though photographers were able to enter the front lines, they faced the technical limitations of bulky, heavy cameras. Because of these limitations, they needed to fill in the gap with art. This took form in ways such as drawings, paintings, murals, and sketches. The first official photograph of the war was a photo of flamethrowers in WW1 to reach the United States. This photo was not allowed to be published without the authorization of the censorship. Because the censorship was created with a narrow-minded objective, by the fall of 1914, the censorship underwent reorganization. On October 19th of 1914, the Oberzensurstelle was established in the Acting Department III b. (Higher Censorship Department) This was put into place to guarantee censorship conformity by handing over matters of regulation to the military commanders. Of the entries in this book, the regulations of what could or could not be published for photos was one of the most elaborate of the Nachschlagebuch (reference book) .In this reference book, the photography of dead soldiers or soldiers in pain was highly condemned but, “photos of dead German soldiers were only forbidden if their faces were clearly recognizable,”. Also, if a photo of a wounded soldier was published, it had to be followed with an excerpt of their well-being and health. Photography was used to inform the public of the soldiers' heroism and not the enemy of their weaknesses. At first, censorship focused on the elimination of information that might be useful to the enemy. With this regulation, photo documentation during WWI focused on new ways to represent how warfare was carried out. If a camera reached the front lines, it could not show anything but the emptiness of the battlefield: “Even if the war photographer, under danger of his life, goes into the first line of trenches and takes a photo, in most cases it will show only a highly dull scenery marked by barbed wire and recent earthworks,”. Photos were published to create a second reality to everyone at home. Photographers focused on showing victories and brave images rather than actual fighting. After 1916, there were strict rules for could and could not be in a photograph. To help control what photographs were being taken and distributed, the government appointed official photographers. The photographers had previously served in the war and had worked for a newspaper. They were handed medium-format cameras that were smaller than the bulky ones used before 1916. The photographs taken by the official war photographers became used as propaganda. It became propaganda by “offering civilians at home a view at the war while protecting them from the horrors of death,”. Photographs taken during the war acted as memorabilia to the soldiers. Photography was a second reality for everyone during this time and provided soldiers, family, and the public with lasting images of the bravery and hardships faced during the fight.

Later WWI
As the course of the war went on, regulations on photography gradually expanded to other sectors of life as the war effort expanded to more industries such as manufacturing and farming. Photography regulations also included humans as barred subjects, such as higher-ranked military officials. Regulations on photography also grew from the growing power photography held on both the military and the public. The inclusion of photographs in exchanges between the front line and the home front helped dissolve barriers between the two. The value of photography as a counterpart to drawn propaganda developed during the war, as it had the potential to accurately portray subjects propaganda would not. In response, government propaganda began making use of staged photos.

Post war
After the war ended in 1918, art photographers turned to photojournalism for a living in postwar Germany due to the hardship brought on by the war. Germany then shifted to the age of visual communication with images and moving cinema in the public’s attention in the 1920s. The invention of the 35 mm camera encouraged professional photographs to be taken without the bulky equipment, lights, or tripods. Photographs were dramatically changed to a more natural composition. At this time, Germany experimented with direct publications of photographs in newspaper-style and magazines. Both photographs and words were created to produce real-life stories. This is the beginning of modern day photojournalism happening in Germany. In 1925, photography was seen as the ideal medium. The public trusted the power of reliability in photography alongside, journalism, propaganda, advertising, art, and literature. Trustworthy photography was seen as a documentary medium that is accessible universally in any text and languages. Photographer August Sander described photography as the “universal language” to “communication our thoughts, conceptions, and realities to all the people on the earth”. In 1933, the Nazis’ saw the use of photography in the public press as a way of propaganda. Photography censorship did not discourage people from taking photographs but German soldiers in WWII treated frontline photographs differently. The frontline photographs were tourist-like.