Machine Gun: Christopher Nevinson (1915) - Chapter 27

In this painting, three French soldiers are working a machine gun. WWI was the first war where machine guns were used and killed so many. It took 3-4 people to work a machine gun because the first model machine gun would jam a lot and it took a team to unjam in quickly so they could fire at the enemy faster. The "shooter" in this painting looks very concentrated while shooting at the enemy. It must have taken a lot of concentration to fire an old time machine gun because I would imagine it would bounce around a lot. The guy below the "shooter" looks as if he is concentrating too. It looks like he is the "spotter" and may tell the "shooter" where people are. The person behind the shooter and spotter looks like he may be yelling something. He could be yelling something because the soldiers are being fired on and he's telling the "shooter" and "spotter" something. I chose this painting because it portrays what war was like during this time period. The painting contains the machine gun team in a trench and that was exactly what the war tactics were back then.