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ERIC ED370593: Civil War Photography and Its Impact from 1863-1993. PDF

11 Pages·1993·0.27 MB·English
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 370 593 IR 055 046 AUTHOR Seels, Jody M.; Seels, Barbara A. TITLE Civil War Photography and Its Impact from 1863-1993. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 11p.; In: Visual Literacy in the Digital Age: Selected Readings from the Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (25th, Rochester, New York, October 13-17, 1993); see IR 055 055. PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Civil War (United States); Editing; Photographic Equipment; *Photographs; Photography; *Photojournalism; *Reprography; *Technological Advancement; *United States History IDENTIFIERS *Digitizing ABSTRACT The United States Civil War was the first American war to be documented extensively by photographs, and these photographs have had tremendous impact and importance. During the war and immediately following, the cost and difficulty of reproducing photographs limited their appeal. Economic pressures actually caused Matthew Brady, the most famous photographer of the Civil War, to sell his collection to the War Department. The invention of the half-tone process, which enabled mass reproduction of photographs, renewed public interest in photography and gave historians ready access to photographic materials. As Civil War survivors died, photographs became vital records of detail and lent a feeling of timelessness to the works they illustrated. The ease with which photographs may now be edited through digitized methods means that it is increasingly important to establish the history of each photograph and to record any changes made. (Contains 26 references.) (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF and Improvement Office of Educational Research INFORMATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES CENTER (ERIC) been reproduced aS C This document has organization received from the person or originating a been made to improve (7. Minor changes have reproduction quality Stated al this docu. Points of urn* of opinions represent official ment do not necessarily OERI position or policy Civil War Photography and Its Impact from 1863-1993 by Jody See Is Barbara A. Seels University of Pittsburgh 4A16 Forbes Quandrangle Pittsburgh, PA 15260 THIS "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE GRANTED BY MATERIAL HAS BEEN Alice Walker BEST COPY AVARARIE RESOURCES TO THE EDUCATIONAL 2 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC1" Civil War Photography and its Impact from 1863-1993 Jody M. See Is Barbara A. See ls Since its invention in 1839, photography the actual images of people, places, see has been an integral part of recording events objects, and events long since gone. that have since history. become Understanding a nation's participation in wars The Civil War was not the first war to is an important part of understanding its utilize photography. In 1920, a set of about people and character. The United States Civil sixty anonymous photographic plates from the War was the first American war to be Mexican War (1846-1848) was discovered. documented by extensively The British use of photography photographs. the in Although the use of photography had limited Crimean War was an important influence on effect during the conflict, the photographs photographers at the start of the American have had tremendous impact and importance Civil War. Roger Fenton, the premier in the over 100 years since the event. The photographer of the Crimea, proved that war lack of the technology necessary for efficient photography in the field was possible. The reproduction of photographs during, and majority of photographs taken in the Crimea immediately after, the Civil War impeded the were of officers, camp life and the common of use photography effective for soldier. Because they were intended to be communication. With the invention of the shown to the royal family, grisly few which enabled half-tone process, mass- photographs were taken. However, Fenton's reproduction of photographs, public interest in published photographs helped convince the photographs was renewed. Historians and American photographers that there was scholars at last began to realize the historical business potential for war photographs. value of the photographs. Since 1866, countless books, magazines, documentaries, There were a number of technological and movies have used photographs to advances in photography prior to the Civil communicatt. to the general public why the War. 1851, Frederick Scott Archer In Civil War is such an important part of invented the wet-plate process which America's history. Photography has been a shortened exposure time; however, key to this understanding. It constitutes a reproduction was still impractical and costly. host of visual primary sources that allow us to The wet-plate process required on-site development, thus leading to the development nf "whatsit wagons," the traveling darkrooms describes how battlefield photographs shocked used by the photographers of the Civil War. the American public. Photography had a limited impact during that throng living The the war because the necessary technologies Broadway care little perhaps that increased its impact had not yet been for the Dead at Antietam, but we fancy they would jostle developed. Portrait photography was widely viewed and popular. By the start of the war, less carelessly down the great thoroughfare, saunter less at Mathew Brady had well established studios in both New York and Washington, their ease, were a few dripping and bodies, fresh from the field, numerous lesser known portrait studios were found throughout the country. Prominent laid along the pavement...As it is, the dead of the battlefield figures from all aspects of society posed for Brady. Collections of the photographs in the come to us very rarely, even in form of "cartes de visite" (small portraits dreams. We see the list in the of calling cards) place and given in morning paper at breakfast, but stereoscopic views became the rage. When dismiss its recollection with war broke out, many soldiers visited these a There is the coffee. studios to have inexpensive photographs, confused mass of names, but strangers; we called "tintypes," taken of themselves to send are they all home to their loved ones as remembrances. forget the horrible significance In return, families of soldiers would have that dwells amid the jumble of their portraits taken and sent to the soldiers to tYPe... MR. BRADY has comfort them. Photographs were even used done including one of on campaign buttons, something to bring home to us Lincoln which prompted him to say, "Brady terrible reality the and and the Cooper Union [speech] made me If he has earnestness of war. not brought bodies and laid president." [1] them in our dooryards and In the field, photography of the war was along the streets, he has done significantly more difficult. something very like it. At the door of his The equipment was gallery hangs a large bulky. and little placard, "The Dead of Sensitizing chemicals and large numbers of glass plates had to be transported. Groups of Antietam." Crowds of people are constantly going up the photographers could be found following the armies to battle The exposure time for wet- stairs; follow them and you plate negatives, anywhere from 10 to 30 them find bending over photographic views of that seconds, was so long that action shots could not be taken; therefore, photographers were fearful battle-field, taken immediately after the action. restricted to photographing the aftermath with Of all objects of horror one its corpse-strewn battlefields, bloated bodies, would think the battle-field and rows of dead soldiers. should stand preeminent, that it should bear away the palm This New York Times review of Mathew But on the Brady's 1863 exhibition on Antietam of repulsiveness. 4 is a terrible contrary, there greatly influenced by the photographs during the war because they did not see them. fascination about it that draws one near these pictures, and In general, the public's perception of the makes him loth to leave them. significance of the photographs did not You will see hushed, reverent groups standing around these increase in the period immediately following of The people's desire to forget the the war. copies carnage, weird bending down to look in the war further hindered the use of photographs pale faces of the dead, chained as communication. by the strange spell that dwells But interest in the war did in dead men's eyes. It seems somewhat singular that the wane almost Lmmediately after. same sun that looked down on Perhaps the Appomattox. of market had been saturated by the faces slain, the blistering them, blotting out energetic purveyors of these images. likely, from the bodies all semblance More to humanity, and hastening Americans preferred not to corruption, should have thus remember the conflict they caught their upon saw in the brutal reality of the features photograph. Very soon myth and them canvas, given perpetuity for ever. But so it and romanticism took the place of remembered fact. And the [2] is. photos themselves were These photographs were among the first forgotten, misplaced, or images to show war from a realistic rather deliberately destroyed. [4] than a romantic view. Exhibitions, such as Brady's, drew large audiences. Yet, these Alexander Gardner compiled and released images had limited impact because they could his Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War in 1866, with photographs taken by only be reproduced newspapers in as woodcut engravings; therefore, they were not Timothy O'Sullivan and himself. The [5] seen by the majority of the general public. book was a commercial failure. It was Newspapers mostly based their woodcuts on expensive because each of the photographs rather than artists' sketches photographs had to be manually reproduced and mounted because sketches did not need detail for on the pages. Moreover, the public was just Sketches could capture the effectiveness. not interested in the book; they simply wanted action of the battle making the woodcuts to forget the war. Mathew Brady invested much more dramatic, more and often approximately one hundred thousand dollars appealing, than many of the gruesomely of his own money in photographing the war. realistic photographs. times, At Brady had relied on the sale of stereoscopic photographers even rearranged bodies and war views to return his investment. These equipment after the battles in an attempt to views were popular during the war, but their make the photographs more dramatic and sale almost stopped completely after the war. publishers kid the general appealing to His photographic exhibitions, while well public. Despite these efforts [3] the attended, did not nearly cover the cost of the photographs never gained much popularity, photography. Brady had to give his creditors, and the vast majority of Americans were not E. and H. T. Anthony and Company, one of graphic destruction depicted in his sets of negatives to meet his bill. Brady the photographs. The people entreated Congress to purchase two thousand and the image were ready for portrait negatives in 1871, but Congress did one another. not act. On account of the financial panic of [7] 1873, Brady lost much of his real estate easier, became reproduction When property and his New York gallery. He was unable to meet storage payments for his the realize to fully began hiitorians significance of the Civil War photographs and negative collection so it was put up for public started to use them in books, periodicals, and auction and bought by the War Department eventually movies and documentaries. The for $2840. Persuaded by President Garfield, first of these books appeared in 1894, The Congress gave Brady an appropriation of Memorial War Book by George F. Williams. $25,000 for the collection. Williams' book was just the beginning. In 1912 the ten-volume Photographic History of handled, was poorly collection The Its editor, the Civil War was published. resulting in many broken and scratched plates. Francis T. Miller, and his associates, spent The duplicate set of Brady negatives stored by the E. and H. T. Anthony and Company years contacting former soldiers, generals and photographers. [8] Roy M. Mason was hired was virtually forgotten until rediscovered by by Miller to search the South for war John C. Taylor of Hartford, Connecticut in an The collection was purchased by photographs. The result was a monumental attic. of Colonel Arnold Rand of Boston and General thousands containing accomplishment photographs reproduced from the original Albert Ordway of Washington, who carefully preserved and catalogued the negatives and prints and plates. The accompanying text was periodically added to the collection. often provided by Civil War veterans. New [6] technologies led to publication of these and other by stored were negatives Many other books which made the photographs and the veterans' societies collectors, accessible to a larger audience. photographers themselves. Interest in the photographs of the Civil They were the keepers of the with image, an men War continued to increase. In subsequent appreciation-and a vision-that decades, numerous Civil War movies, such as Finally, just others lacked. Birth of a Nation (1927), Gorse With the Wind before the turn of the century, (1939), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), their hour, and that of their and more Glory (1990) were recently, photographs, came at last. It produced. Often these films referred to Civil of and costume War photographs arrived on the wings for set technology, the development Many of these movies fell reconstruction. of halftone printing short of authenticity vith scenes being overly the process. At last, photographs dramatic, even romanticizing war. This could be easily and speedily contrasted with the initial impact of the Civil War photographs of the 1860's which "printed" in massive quantities. did At the same time, there was a much to dispel most people's glorified image new generation of Americans of war that was seen in the paintings of the who had not lived through the period. [9] war, who did not feel the old pains revived by seeing the published three books: In the Photographic History of the Civil Gettysburg: A War, many romantic ideas are reiterated. Journey in Time, Grant and Lee: The Virginia Campaigns: 1864-1865 and Antietam: Allan Trachtenberg compares captions in the The Photographic Legacy of America's Bloodiest Miller series with Gardner's captions: Days in which he dispels many of the previously unquestioned captions and titles. The 1911 text describes it as a scene of troops en route to [11] battle...The text weaves the image into a narrative of the From 1981 to 1984, a six-volume series, Images of War, containing hundreds of 'eve' of the first battle of the war, a moment of lighthearted previously unpublished photographs appeared. young laughing [12] The Image of War series tried to correct innocence, men 'hardly realizing in the many of the errors found in the captions. In contagion of their patriotic exhibition 1980's, late and an the ardor the grim meaning of real corresponding book entitled the Eyes of Time: The picture war.' shows Photojournalism in America were presented. Both covered how the something else...The Gardner of use [13] explicit text more photography in the Civil War related to and in is detail...Gardner's text saturates affected the use of photojournalism in the the image, encouraging the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. viewer incoiporate to its a generalized into details Photographs important have been in narrative of war as a disruption helping both historians and the general public of nature. [10] gain an understanding that is more detailed and realistic than that of previous wars which collaborators Miller accepted relied only on artists' representations. and his In idealizations and did not question captions 1990, Ken Burns released his ten hour [14] The given to the pictures by the photographers and documentary, The Civil War. press in the 1860's. Thus, many errors were documentary integrated the photographs with other means of communication, such as passed on from the Photographic History of diaries, and music, the Civil War to subsequent books. narrative, letters, to increase the impact the information would In 1975, William A. Frassanito sought to have on the public. [15] Some historians are correct some of these errors. bothered by the documentary's lack of Frassanito analyzed hundreds of Civil War photographs accuracy in the use of photographs in relation to determine where, when and by whom they to the narrative. [16] were taken. By studying the photographs, he look for what I was able to determine if, and in what way, call an I the bodies were staged by the photographers. equivalent - that is, an image Frassanito shot the scenes again so that he that may not be what an expert could better original understand the would certify as belonging to However, the photographic photographs. I'm the precise moment not exactly conditions were duplicated describing, but that combines because he used modern cameras with lenses with the narration to make a that were not equivalent to those used by synthesis that's good history, War Civil photographers. Frassanito so that you say, "My God, I I know what they hear that. France made some 80 years later. Together must have felt." [17] they seem part of one time-almost the same war, a part of the same continuing series of Nevertheless, Burns' documentary brought organized struggles which have characterized an understanding of the conflict to a large human history. viewing audience. The effectiveness and impact of this documentary could not have of The living skeletons been achieved without the availability of Union soldiers released from photography as a means of communication. Andersonville prison in 1865 The photographs brought the viewers closer to cannot be distinguished from the people and events of the Civil War by similar photographic records of letting them feel the emotions of both the victims of the Belsen the ordinary soldiers and prominent figures in the concentration camp more than period. The detail of the photographs made three-quarters of a century later. [19] the war, and the people involved, seem more realistic than wars and participants rendered Because of photography we now have a artists' by interpretations only. record of the people who so greatly shaped When paintings and photographs of the time period our country. The detail in photographic of the are compared, importance the portraits provides a wealth of information on photograph becomes more apparent because the personalities and emotions of both leaders details omitted in a portrait of Lincoln are One can look at and common people. clearly seen in a photograph of Lincoln. [18] portraits of Lincoln to see the emotional and the war exacted on him. toll physical The significance of the photographs has Photographic portraits allow us to observe the increased immensely since the Civil War. changes in Lincoln by comparing photographs For, as the decades passed, the people who taken at different times during his campaign had first-hand knowledge of the Civil War and presidency. Comparing a photograph died, leaving historians no choice but to rely taken on February 27, 1860 at the time of the of on forms recorded information to Cooper Union Institute speech during his first understand the campaign [20] with a portrait taken on war. Photography has provided society with an extensive record of November 15, 1863 [21] three years into the detail in uniforms, weapons, forts, and a war, the lines on his face are markedly soldier's camp life. Battle-maps can be deeper. A photograph taken op April 9, 1865 from reconstructed photographs. The five days before his death is one of the few photographs confirm letters, diary entries, and pictures taken of Lincoln where he is smiling. He had just heard news that Lee had other written correspondence. When compared with photographs from subsequent surrendered to Grant. [22] wars, similarities give history a feeling of timelessness. Photographs can never be a complete factual source because the viewer can only In many ways Civil War photography see what the photographer decided was actually seems to foreshadow the recorded important to see. The photographs can never image of World War II. A photograph of the be looked at from the perspective of someone dead against a fence on the battlefield of who was alive during the war. They will Antietam is a companion piece to a scene of always be viewed and studied from a modern corpses along a hedgerow on the battlefield of perspective. photograph the computer. The content of a or so, years After 100 printed on photographic paper can be scanned photographs no longer trigger into a computer, stored and manipulated as a a of memory living the This phenomenon of the digitized image. but experience, concrete important has darkroom electronic become historical abstractions iinplications for photographic archivists. which can only help another generation imagine how it was. Historians use the word "provenience" to [23] describe the history of a photograph's origin and ownership including changes in context Wagner described Civil War photography have affected the. or technology which There were as a type of "time bomb." When photograph and its interpretation. immediate effects, but the aftershocks are changes in form, content or context that affect immensely more important. They provide the interpretation can be identified, the historical understanding an event our in to key value of the photograph is preserved, and the country's history, the Civil War, that has a photograph can be used as documentation. and profound impact on the development The historical record of the photograph is character of the United States. [24] intact when changes in the prints can be noted and analyzed. With Civil War photographs, We will never know what it was like to be for example, the original glass plate was black and white at the Brady exhibition of Second and usually cleaned and reused. photographs from Antietam in 1863. We do succeeding generation copies became the know that Civil War photographs command historical record. Although the original plate When photographs of interest even today. of changes may no longer exist, the likelihood soldiers killed in Somalia or Bosnia are from the negative to a colts& print is shown on television in schools, some students was tgehnology the because This may be minimal laugh as a body explodes. Digitind photography seen on relatively primitive. so much violence is because makes it almost impossible to detect changes war actual programming, entertainment made by editing. On the photographs no longer seem real. other hand, war photographs have increased Thus, it becomes increasingly important to impact now because they are seen by more have access to the original photograph and people immediately, and the impact of war information about any subsequent changes also increased by is photography today If the made by photographers or editors. advances in camera technology and media is negative) (the photograph original presentation techniques. preserved, then a trail is left for history's detectives. The value of the photograph as Photographic images can now be edited "evidence" is enhanced by a record on film or film using without reproduced and and by documentation of the changes at all Technologies chemically based processes. stages when digitized imagery is used. such as high-resolution desktop scanners, of how is photograph the Regardless image processing software, Photo CD and produced, it is important to remember that: gradually are printers tone continuous chemically produced traditional replacing The camera is the eye of history imagery. [25] Today the analog image from ...you must never make bad pictures. the television camera can be easily converted ...Mathew Brady [26] through to digitized format and manipulated 9 List of Reference Notes Taft, Robert. [ 1] 1938. Photography and [10] Trachtenberg, Alan. 1989. Reading the American Scene: A Social American Photographs; Images as NY: Dover Publications, History. History, Mathew Brady to Walker 195. Evans. NY: Hill and Wang, 98-99. [ 2] Pictures of the Brady's Photographs: [11] Frassanito, William A. Grant 1983. Dead at Antietam", The New rork and Lee: The Virginia Campaigns Times, 20 October 1863, P. 5, 6. 1864-1865. Charles NY: 1983. Scribner's Sons. Frassanito, William A. 1975. [ 3] A Journey in Time. Gettysburg: Frassanito, William A. 1978. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. Antietam: The Photographic Legacy of America's Bloodiest Days. NY: Davis, William C., ed. [4] The 1984. Charles Scribner's Sons. Image of War: 1862-1865, Vol.1, Shadows of the Storm. Garden City, Frassanito, William A. 1975. NY: Doubleday, 9. Gettysburg: A Journey in Time. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1959. Gardner's Gardner, Alexander. [ 51 Photographic Sketch Book of the [12] Davis, William C. ed. 1981-1984. The Civil War. NY: Dover Publications. Image of War. Vols. I-VI. NY: Doubleday. [ 6] Taft, Robert. 1938. Photography and the American Scene: A Social [13] Fulton, Marianne. 1988. Eyes of Time: NY: Dover Publications, History. Photojournalism America. in 244. Boston: Little Brown and Co. Davis, William C., ed. [ 7] [14] Burns, Ken. 1984. The The Civil War. 1990. Image of War: 1862-1865, Vol. 1, Produced and directed by Ken Burns. Shadows of the Storm. Garden City, PBS Video. NY: Doubleday, 10. [15] "What Horrors He Must Have Seen." [ 8] Miller, Fr:Axis Trevelyan, ed. 1912. (March Yankee's Home 1992). The Photographic History of the Companion, 62-67. Civil War in Ten Volumes. Vol. 1, The Opening Battles. NY: The [16] Stapp, Will, Curator at the International Review of Reviews Co. Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. [ 9] Paintings of Civil War scenes can be Interview by author, (telephone, 27 found in many books including The January). 1991. NY: Ballantine Civil War. Books.

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