"Recording 20th Century Wartime Landscapes" by Geoffrey Stell

Abstract

The recording of 20th-century wartime landscapes on the home front, as opposed to landscapes of war in overseas battle zones, has had a chequered history since its inception in the 1970s. Made up of seemingly endless defence types, the subject has still not fully shaken off its reputation as a form of military train-spotting. However, recording has now gone well beyond this stage, adopting holistic approaches which recognise that inter-related networks of defence were of varying strategic importance with cores and peripheries, and that a fuller appreciation of the historical context comes from a study of structures and documents within the three main physical theatres in which warfare was conducted and organised, that is, by land, sea and air.