The Face of World War One
Every picture tells a story, what's yours?
About this project
Artist Helen Marshall was commissioned by BBC Local Radio to create ‘The Face of World War One’, containing more than 30,000 photographs captured across the nation during the BBC World War One at Home Live Events. Original photographs from 1914-1918 have also been included in the mosaic, supplied from the archives of Imperial War Museums and public submissions.
The Face of World War One is also available to explore as a huge giga pixel image online in deep zoom. Zoom in and explore from the comfort of your phone or armchair.
30,000 photos collected
Featured faces
Timelapse
Watch the The Face of World War One being installed at BBC headquarters. It is also available to explore as a huge giga pixel image online in deep zoom. Zoom in and explore from the comfort of your phone or armchair.
Gigapixels are huge photographic images. They can be viewed on-screen in an interactive format, or as very large format prints with an incredible amount of detail.
In the news
BBC News at Six | 2014
'The Face of WW1'
BBC iWonder | 2014
'Remembrance Day 2014: How will we remember them?'
BBC | 2014
'Digital mosaic of fallen World War One soldier created'
Culture24 | 2014
'The Face of WW1'
Ariel | 2014
'WW1 Commemorative Artwork Comes To BH'
artnet | 2014
'Artist Uses 30,000 Images To Create Historical Digital Mosaic'
BBC Ariel | 2014
'WW1 commemorative artwork comes to BH'
Great Britain commemorates World War 1 | syracuse | 2014
The Face of World War One reaches the US media!
Explore our projects
Explore our projects
BBC London
BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA
www.bbc.co.uk
BBC World War 1 at Home was a BBC project launched in 2014 for the First World War centenary, focusing on local stories from the British home front. It partnered with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to create over 1,000 stories highlighting how the war impacted specific places like schools, factories, and streets, and how individuals experienced the global conflict. The project featured radio, TV, and online content, including an interactive map and live events, aiming to show the diverse experiences of people across the UK and Ireland.
“This portrait image was selected not only because of its important historical context, being sited clearly in its own time, but because it is a face that could also exist in the here and now, in our time. It could easily be a portrait of our father, brother or friend, taken yesterday. I knew his image would work, because he’s looking directly at the camera and he looks like your average man. Pte Beaney’s great niece Irene Ingles, who lives in Gosport in Hampshire, said her family were “very proud and honoured” his image was chosen for the project. It’s like having a long-lost relative we never really knew, suddenly come in to our lives. It’s affected us all emotionally”
Helen Marshall | Artist
“We always aim to put audiences at the very heart of what the BBC does and on this occasion we have been able to achieve that literally. The WW1 at Home tour has been a huge success as these 20,000 pictures of people who came along show. The mosaic represents the spirit of WW1 At Home, our landmark UK wide project to tell powerful, fascinating and moving stories about the impact of WW1 in local areas right on our doorsteps”
David Holdsworth | English Regions | BBC