Author Description

This is a pictorial essay about Paris and France at an extraordinary time. Clarence Inman was a staff photographer for a unit of the OSS in France during the final year of World War II. His collection of images of a universally familiar setting under very unfamiliar circumstances furnishes historical fascination as well as aesthetic allure. The subjects on the other side of his lens included celebrants on the streets, sailors, and soldiers both victorious and vanquished, the fabulous monuments and the classic streetscapes. His collection features unique aerial photos, the depiction of an important German surrender and images of a triumphant London and a devastated Nuremberg. This photographic portrait of France is book-ended by the story in words and photos of the John Ford Field Photo Branch from its inception as a private regiment before the war to The Farm that memorialized the group for two decades after the war.