I recently went to a dinner to raise money for Normandy veterans. As well as the veterans there were some World War 2 re-enactors. One in particular stood out as he was the absolute spit of controversial WW2 General George S Patton. The level of detail he had gone to to replicate Patton’s equipment was extraordinary. I made it a project to capture how he looked without getting his whole body in. My mobile phone made it easier.
Here’s Patton’s three-star general helmet and “swagger” stick/riding stick. The stick is a nod to his pre-war days in the cavalry. It was hard to avoid getting me in the helmet reflections.
He was famous for wearing a Colt single action army pattern revolver with initialled ivory grips in a holster on his right hip. He sometimes wore a 357 Magnum on the other hip. The quality of the costume was amazing. If you look hard at the shiny little button on the holster you can see me in a dinner suit!
Also as a reference to his cavalry days were his brown leather riding boots. They went well with the wood of the floor. The passing leg was a happy accident.
The sequence of images runs from top to toe, and you can assemble them into a sort of whole body shot (if you use your imagination), so it’s a portrait without the person’s face.
by Derek Gale