Near Musa Qala. Crown Copyright
A small but fascinating photographic exhibition at the National Army Museum is currently lifting the lid on the day-to-day life of soldiers during a critical phase of recent operations in Afghanistan.
The photographs, which will be on display at the Museum until July 2007, are the work of Corporal Mike Fletcher, who travelled through Afghanistan between April and September 2006 with 3 Para Battle Group.
Numbering over 300 and presented as a series of rolling projections they depict camouflaged and weather-beaten soldiers: on patrol, calling up air support, waiting in the queue for food, watching the world cup or tending to their sore and swollen feet back at base. Each of them revealing the often hidden world of today’s soldier.
A former Royal Engineer turned Army photographer, Mike was what the Army terms ‘The Media Operations Photographer’ for Helmand Province, which means he was allowed unprecedented access to the Paras – away from the conventional media lens.
In a meeting at the Army Museum he spoke to the 24 Hour Museum about his experiences and his photography.
Vehicle Search Dog, Lashkar Gah. Crown Copyright
He began by explaining how the modern day Army photographer uses the latest in digital technology to make sure that photos from the battlefield carry important data, which remains with them when they eventually come to rest in the archives of the Imperial War Museum.
“On our cameras now is the ability to record 60 seconds of sound per image, which means you can be somewhere, take a picture of a soldier and just ask them their name rather than get a notebook out. You might be in a situation where you don’t want to be mucking about like that.”
“Now we have gone digital, within three years of me taking a picture it will go to the Imperial War Museum and because we can now embed metadata (technical info about the pic) within the images there is a lot more information that people, and the soldiers themselves in years to come, can access.”
It may seem like a thankless task, to be in often-dangerous situations, taking dramatic photographs, which then become Crown copyright and part of the IWM’s collection, but Mike says he is more than happy with the arrangement.
Operation Atomi, Musa Qala. Crown Copyright
“It makes me quite proud that my work from here on in will be there (at the IWM) and my kids or whoever can go in there and see my work and that the Museum is going to do a good job looking after them.”
Anyone who has searched the photographic archives of the IWM knows photographs by army photographers are often the best and certainly most authentic depictions of army life you can find and, it seems, today’s Army is continuing the tradition.
“There are just over 40 photographers in the Army and almost to a man they are completely passionate about photography and what they do,” says Mike. “So the first thing you try and do is line up with your peers. We’ve got some great photographers and I’m just trying to maintain the standard and not let the side down.”
The level of access afforded to Army photographers also means that pretty much everywhere they point their camera there is a good story, even if many of the soldiers don’t see it that way.
Meeting with Town Elders, Musa Qala. Crown Copyright
“I met a guy called Charlie who was a dog handler who had a vehicle search dog called Jamie,” explains Mike. “When I asked to take his picture his response was to say: ‘I’m just doing a job – just searching vehicles, I’m not doing anything special’ but this guy was the first line of defence in camp. He was outside the wall with his dog searching vehicles that could potentially blow up at any moment.”
According to Mike, the ‘just doing my job’ response is typical and despite today’s 24-hour news culture, most soldiers aren’t media savvy. The first thing that bothers most of them when they see a photographer is the ribbing they will get from their mates and the drinks they will have to buy if their picture gets into the papers.
Many more of them are wary about the presence of a man with a camera – even if he is a soldier in uniform like them.
“Three Para were very dubious at first,” he explains, “I had to work hard to let them take me on missions – after all I was taking up valuable space on an aircraft for an operation. But after a photograph had appeared on the cover of Soldier Magazine they began to argue about which company was going to have me with them.”
Operation Baghi, Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Crown Copyright
Mike eventually accompanied 3 Para on a variety of assignments – including a few potentially dangerous operations. “The first real operational mission I went on, the intelligence people said ‘as soon as the helicopter hits the ground bullets will be coming in and we know there’s 200 Taliban the other side of the mountain…’ so you think to yourself ‘this is serious now’.
“The night before I had to go up and drop off some kit and I walked into a tent and there’s guys just sitting round casually watching war movies! For them it’s just what they do, they’re used to it.” Like most soldiers, however, once he was on the move, his training kicked in and he was soon looking for good picture opportunities.
The results can be seen at the Army Museum. Mike’s photographs show everything from pathfinder platoons, villagers from Mukhtar, heavily laden Landrovers, ordnance teams disposing of live mortar bombs, Chinook helicopters landing through clouds of dust – in fact the vast panoply of an Army life.
Visitors on their way to the Museum’s lower galleries, which tell the story of the birth of the British Army, should pause and take in Mike’s images, for they offer a timely and valuable insight into the work of an Army photographer and the lives of today's British Army soldiers in Afghanistan.
See a slideshow of the images from 3 Para in Helmand Province
