Image: Jeffrey Gusky
Gusky, an emergency physician and fine-art photographer is believed to be the first person ever to bring to light the large number of underground cities beneath the trenches of WWI. The Hidden World of WWI reveals the artifacts, sculptures and evocative graffiti left behind by soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Landowners determined to preserve the past have zealously protected these underground treasures for decades.
Gusky found thousands of works of art, graffiti and inscriptions by German, French, British, American, Canadian, Polish, Hungarian, Australian, New Zealand, Chinese, African and even New Zealand Maori soldiers, among others. He spent a total of six months exploring miles and miles of these underground spaces.
Gusky is strongly committed to preserve and protect these treasures in France. “I’m a man on a mission. I hope these images will change the way we think about WWI and that they will be protected for future generations. The Hidden World of WWI gives us a glimpse into the humanity of individual soldiers who refused to be silenced in the face of modern warfare. Men from both sides declared themselves as human beings who could think, feel, express and create, and who remind us today that they were here, that they once existed as living, breathing human beings.” Images from The Hidden World of WWI can be found at www.JeffGusky.com.
