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100-Year-Old Color Photos Show a Rare Polychromatic Glimpse of World War I

By Jessica Stewart on July 11, 2018

The results are a striking look at war, with color bringing the subjects to life.

A Senegalese Bambara. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Left: Church with remains of statues in the foreground. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau. | Right: Front line trench: group of hairy in front of the entrance of a shelter. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Frontline trench group of hairy in front of the entrance of a shelter: the haircut. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Bombardment of 2 and 3 September: military and civilian populations, fire hose. Dunkirk, France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Barracks. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Left: General Antoine, commander of the First Army. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau | Right: Belgian General Michel, Commander 4th AD (former Minister of War). Belgium, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Return of a column of Zouaves (Alsatians and Lorrainers) coming from the Tripolitan border. Tunisia, 1916. Photographer Albert Samama Chikli.

Group of Senegalese soldiers during the hour of rest. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

At the Swiss border: four French soldiers in front of the fence, marking the border. Basically, Swiss soldiers. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

HQ of the first army. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Farmyard: Senegalese military washing clothes in troughs. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Front line trench observation post: three French soldiers under observation behind sandbags. France, 1917. Photographer Paul Castelnau.

Thousands of color photos, taken in Tunisia, France, and Belgium over the course of 1916 and 1917, show the impact of war. All told, they are an extraordinary documentation that reminds the public that the heroes of our past aren't so different than those of our present.