Language confuses and conceals as much as it explains. I was thinking about the contradictory term ‘dazzle camouflage’ when putting together images for The Camera Suture in June. Today, I found a scrap of paper in a coat pocket, something I’d scribbled down back then but forgot about and never used....
“Dazzle camouflage (aka ‘razzle dazzle’) was a camouflage paint scheme used on ships. An unlikely form of camouflage, drawing attention to the target rather than hiding it but its purpose was not to conceal the ship but to make it difficult for an enemy sub to clock it and destroy it. Its purpose was confusion, rather than concealment.”
Dazzle patterns were usually designed by women.
