Official Website Emil Edgren, Photographer
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The life of a professional photographer from the 1940-s through the 1980's was very different than today. For one, many celebrities liked photographers because they were not that many.
Paparazzi were virtually non existent and the "gossip rags" had yet to make the grocery stands. There was a level of respect with no real intention of crossing into personal lives to harm. Being in a metro area it would not be uncommon to "cover a story", and be assigned to oh, " Lauren Becall is waiting for you at the Fairmont."
Emil started his photo career in the U.S. Army, 1942. After the war he was a press photographer for the San Francisco Call Bulletin and later the San Jose Mercury News.
To appreciate photography, one must step back into time, as mentioned above. Today, almost everyone has a camera on them somewhere. Probably a good comparison example, is the Kennedy assassination movie. There was only one, one picture/video of that awful moment in 1962. This was the famous Magruder film made with an 8 mm camera home movie camera. Without that one film, we would have no visual record of the incident. If it was today? There would be hundreds of still and videos of the act. Fast forward to about 1975. Suddenly, cameras evolved and became much more accessible and affordable, from instamatic, disc, polaroid, etc. On the high end some enthusiasts invested in very expensive 35 mm cameras like Sony and Nikon. However, photography was still in the 100 year plus laborious yet creative process of film, developing, procesing and darkroom work.
Around 1990, the first digital cameras appeared. Although crude and expensive, they were quick to progress and interface with computers and digital devices.A whole process and profession was gone forever, and the phrase,"A picture never lies", became a line of the past.
In combat photography, in World War 2, Korea and Viet Nam, photographers were often at high risk, lugging heavy equipment around trying to shoot the enemy with a camera rather than a gun. In today's world, a soldier, can strap on a mini cam on their helmet, download it to a device and transmit it back to their family in am matter of minutes, or even video stream it in live time.
So, this is the story of a retired photographer who was in a war, over seas like many for four years, not knowing when the war would end. There were no statewide visits, no cellphones, few hardline phones, a slow mail system. And like many,his engaged loved one,Lucille, waited as many did for any news or letters.
Imagine being locked in a conflict not for a few months...but for years, and not knowing when it would end. Actually Emil and Lucille developed their own little code system and she knew pretty much where he was, through letters that passed and were full of holes by censors.That's the way is was. Of course, everyone dreaded seeing a military car drive up to a residence to deliver a Western Union telegram. And Lucille who worked for the Navy in Oakland, along with her co workers had to see coffins arrive daily from the war. And for history's sake, it should never be doubted that the Axis enemy powers, had a probable chance of victory.
After the war, Emil later went on to the press arena where we think you will find the experiences just as fascinating as his military years.
The First Phase of the War
Emil joined the military in early 1941 to get his one year necessary service out of the way before getting married. Half way out to the Pacific with a convoy of unescorted troopships, news came that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. The convoy immediately turned around and steamed back to San Francisco, losing two troop ships with hundreds of soldiers.
From San Francisco it was off to New York. Emil was assigned to Iceland with the US Army replacing British troops.
Iceland was considered a vital plum for a Nazi invasion, as it was strategically located. According to Churchill, if Iceland fell into Nazi hands, it would be a very serious situation.
While stationed in Iceland for nearly two years, Emil had plenty of time to photograph the people and country. Very few if any photographs exist of that time and place. Recently a collection of his work was printed in a book (2011), and displayed at the Icelandic National Photographic Museum. Below is the cover with four ladies in their swimsuits. Below are the same ladies today! It was the first time they had seen themselves as young ladies in a picture yet alone in bathing suits. The picture was sent by one of their husbands.
On the book cover above, there three sisters and one friend.
From left to right:
Kneeling: Audor, Standing, Signdur, and the last standing is
Gundridur. All these are sisters, married with families living in Reykjavik.
Their maiden name is Gunnarsdottir.
The girl in the middle standing is a friend, also named Sigrudur Biarnadottir
Photo 2011: From left to right
Information provided by husband Benedikt Sveinsson husband of . "they are really enjoying all the attention the book is getting and the memories it brings...the world has changed a lot since
World War II, but they still bring a lot of joy to all concerned.
View the book on Icelandic TV - Click Image
Leaving Iceland it was off to England. It was in 1942 when Emil was shipped to London. There, he was able to have a number of once in a lifetime experiences including a private photo session with the Queen Mother, some highly classified work of captured hi tech German bombs and devices, an assignment to photograph the first V2 rocket destruction that hit England, and to photograph Hitler's Austrian "Eagles Nest" to name a few.
Emil was in the Signal Corps of the 54th Battalion. It was from the Signal Corps where photographers were assigned to other units for any number of short or long term assignments. On one incident he was assigned to the 101st Airborne. The top secret mission included hundreds of gliders that were ready to take off and land "somewhere".
For three days heavily armed troops, faces darkened with grease and wearing tank grenades, boarded one of the hundreds of flimsy glider planes, Emil among them. Each day, England;s dense fog kept the group from take off. Sensing this would be more than a dangerous mission, Emil called his superior and said, "All they are doing is practice runs." Remarkably his superior told him to return to London. The very next day, the fog lifted and the flotilla of planes and gliders took off for the top secret invasion. This was in history and cinema , a Bridge Too Far. Unfortunately, the 101st suffered heavy casualties.
Shortly thereafter, the bloody Normandy D-Day beach invasion was launched. Once the allied forces secured France and liberated Paris, Emil was transferred there. Once there, he again went on any assignment as ordered. In 1944 he found himself attached to the 82nd Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge. This offensive by the German military completely caught our allies forces off guard. At that time, most seasoned allied troops were enjoying good times in Paris celebrating the countdown to victory, thinking of going home and seeing their loved ones for the first time in three or four years. The Nazis had been defeated and a formal surrender was soon expected.
That did not happen.
Click on Image
In what historians call one of the most well planned and coordinated counter offensives in the history of warfare was launched. During the worst winter in 30 years, many of the allied soldiers guarding the front lines were green, fresh from the states with little or no battle experience. Suddenly they found themselves knee deep in snow, without winter gear, facing waves of Nazi Panzer and Tiger Tank divisions that no one thought even existed. Many officers and commanders at first did not believe it.
Some of the first to learn of it were those who encountered fleeing refugees saying "the Nazis, Nazis are coming." It was a time of panic and confusion. For several days much of the front lines were cut off due to the bad weather, deep snow and thick fog. Despite having little to eat, or clothing to keep warm and dry, a lack of medical supplies, the brave held their own against the powerful Nazi advance. This was also the time of the infamous Malmady massacre. Where captured GI's were lined up and machined gunned by the Nazis. When news of this reached other troops it was met with shock and anger. There was much loss of lives on both sides. At that time, Emil was attached to the 82nd Airborne in this fiaaco. While in a trench with bullets flying, he held his speed graphic up above the trench and took a picture. The photo turned out to be one picture of a paratrooper scrambling across a field. It was somewhat artistic because of barb wire that was in the foreground with the paratrooper a distance off. As it turned out, the photo was one used in many World War 2 books. It was also was the favorite of Gen. Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who displayed it in his office.
After the German's were forced to retreat, Emil went back to Paris. Soon thereafter, the German Reich surrendered.
In Paris, Emil experienced and photographed the largest party Paris ever had. Victory in Europe "VE" Day. Thousands of Parisians, allied forces mobbed the streets..Highlighting most of his military experiences and photographs of Paris' grand party, a local writer Gayle Geurin authored 3:01 P.M. Pacific War Time. The book may be purchased through the contact link or Amazon.
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