Dianne Wolfer, illustrated by Brian Harrison-Lever,
Photographs in the Mud
Fremantle Press, 2005.

Ages 7-11

Photographs in the Mud is a superb picture book that both provides historical detail and reminds us of the human tragedy which accompanies the machinations of war. Set in World War II, it follows two soldiers, one Australian, the other Japanese, as they set off for the front in Papua New Guinea. Jack leaves behind a pregnant wife; Hoshi, his wife and small daughter. Each carries photographs to remind him of home - and the passing of time is emphasized through the illustrations, in which these photographs change.

Both Jack and Hoshi hate the war but know that they have to fight.  The jungle environment is also hostile with its “foul-smelling swamps”, leeches and disease. There are many casualties on both sides before Jack and Hoshi encounter one another. Both fatally wounded, they turn to the comfort of the photographs that are their only connection with home - and then share them with each other. They cannot understand each other’s words but the photographs and their tone of voice communicate the clear message that, as Jack put it, “War’s a mug’s game.” When their bodies are found the next day, a soldier retrieves the photographs from the mud and tries to separate them, but they are stuck together.

Harrison-Lever’s beautifully executed water-color illustrations provide extra details, such as images of the wives back home, holding photographs of their soldier husbands. In fact, not until the end when the two dying soldiers look at each other’s photographs are photographs actually mentioned in the text: but their importance as a link with home is made clear from the beginning, through the inclusion of the small black and white photographs in many of the illustrations. Harrison-Lever also makes very effective use of red splashes of paint to depict bloodshed: what it lacks in verisimilitude, it certainly makes up for in impact.

Inspired by a trip Dianne Wolfer made along the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, Photographs in the Mud is a moving tribute to the soldiers who fought and died there during the Second World War.  It also serves as a sensitive reminder of the human cost, not just for the soldiers themselves but for those left waiting in vain for the return of their loved ones.

Marjorie Coughlan
October 2009