So these are photos of my great grandfather during the Russian Civil War. As far as I have been told, he was part of the British air force and he was a war-photographer. He apparently took tonnes of footage of the British intervention, which was taken by a film studio by the name of "united films" or something along those lines back in the 1930s to make a film out of, but that was the last my family ever saw of that footage.
Now the question is, from these photos, is it possible to tell what rank or position he held from them? Is it possible to tell where they were taken? According to family members, they were taken in a place called Archangel or something like that? Is it possible to confirm that location in these photos at all? Also anyone have a clue what he is holding in pictures 6, 7 and 8?
Don't know if this is the right sub at all, but I've been curious about these photos ever since I've seen them.
That distinctive wrap-around jacket is the uniform of the Royal Flying Corps.They used to call it the "maternity jacket". There seems to be one "pip" on each shoulder, so he was a 2nd lieutenant when the pictures were taken.
As to where they were taken, I doubt that most are in Archangel (usually written Arkhangelsk these days), which is in the far North of Russia and according to the wiki page has average temperatures below freezing for about half the year- you wouldn't get vines growing up walls there! In fact there's a very French look to the buildings, particularly that gate in picture 2, so perhaps this is his base during WWI?
He's holding a small folding camera- not an aerial camera, those were much bigger things, just a snapshot type of camera. The Vest Pocket Kodak maybe- it was popular with soldiers at the time.
The British army was certainly in Arkhangelsk though, in 1918/19, they were trying to support the "white" side in the civil war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Russia_Campaign
Archangelsk was seized by the British during the intervention, and the Sam Browne belt he's wearing indicates he's an officer, though I can't make out his shoulder boards so I can't tell what rank exactly. I think he's holding a light meter.
The object in pictures 6,7, and 8 is, as lu619 said, a small folding camera. I'd place my bet on it being a Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak, though there's not really a ton of detail. It's a snapshot camera, sold to many soldiers in the first World War. Its gimmick was that you could write messages directly on the negative using a red plastic window built into the back.
Thanks a lot guys for this info :)