ABSTRACT
Sir Douglas Brownrigg’s memoirs describe his struggle in finding acceptance for official reporting and his particular problems with film and photography: The attitude of the fleet towards photographers, both ‘still’ and ‘moving’ was curious. The upshot was that although the navy eventually came to tolerate official professional photographers it was on a far more limited basis than the army. However, the navy had long-standing relationships with professional photographic firms at its various bases and with studios specializing in portraiture on whom it relied for its own needs and whose material was a regular staple of press supply. The far-flung activities of the Royal Navy made amateur photography especially important as a record not only of battle and the lives of the men but also of its general development during the war. The formation in November 1917 of the Women’s Royal Naval Service attracted the attention of the press and official photographers.
