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

11 Pages·1993·0.27 MB·English

by  ERIC

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)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that
can be made
from the original document.
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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
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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.