Colonial snapshots: roll film photography and imperial self-positioning in the Philippine–American War

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This article examines the imagery and narrative structure of white US soldiers’ photo albums of the Philippine–American War (1899–1902). It particularly focuses on soldiers’ uses of roll film photographs in these albums. I argue that the new medium of roll film photography allowed soldiers to create personalised visual accounts of the war and accentuate white male imperial self-images. Roll film photographs thus significantly expanded soldiers’ possibilities to shape the memory of their war service.