A Tribute to Arthur Mole

Arthur Mole (1889-1983) was a commercial artist who became famous for a series of "living photographs" made during World War I, in which tens of thousands of soldiers, reservists and other members of the military were arranged to form massive compositions.

Mole worked as a commercial photographer in Zion, Illinois, north of Chicago. During World War I, he traveled to various army, marine and navy camps to execute his massive compositions. He is considered a pioneer in the field of performed group photography. [2] Executing photographs using such large numbers, and relying on lines of perspective stretching out more than a hundred meters, required a week of preparation and then hours to actually position the soldiers. [3]