During the Great War, Vignacourt became an important military base located behind Allied lines.

Louis and Antoinette Thuillier, both farmers who loved new technologies, owned their own camera, which was rare in the early 20th century.

Louis taught Antoinette how to use it and they turned their farmyard into a photo studio. In front of an improvised backdrop, both civilians and soldiers would come to the farmhouse to have their photographs taken.

When the war ended, the photographic plates were stored in the attic and forgotten about for over a century. They now form the Thuillier collection, a truly unique set of photographs.