Imagining of the Social World
WAR AND PHOTOGRAPHY
- War has been around for all of human history and its effects have been felt in every community on the planet.
- Yet at that time, during the 19th century, when war was depicted it was often shown in a very abstract and idealized way.
- Victorious generals were shown as heroes.
- Soldiers who died were shown as heroic and morally righteous.
- The actual pain and devastation of a battle field and the havoc and terror that it caused to people in a war zone were not acknowledged in most popular visual imagery at that time.
- The Mexican American war did not make too much of an impact photographically at the time. But it suggested to people that they should be able to see images from a conflict when it was going on.
Crimean War (1854-1856) Roger Fenton
- The Crimean War (1854-56) was the first major conflict to be covered by newspaper reporters, artists and photographers.
- The war was unpopular in England and a reporter (William Howard Russell) for the London Times sent back stories about the horrible conditions the soldiers were living in.
- The soldiers did not have food or medical supplies. During the winter there were torrential rain storms and the soldiers did not have warm clothing or waterproof shelter.
- A photographer named Roger Fenton was sent to the war front by a publisher who wanted to sell Fentons photos to an upper class market.
- Fenton was a lawyer and an an amateur photographer.
- At this point the government and publishers were speculating about the potential of war photographs.
US Civil War (1861-1865)
- The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861.
- The North was swiftly evolving into urban, capitalistic, industrial centers that were organized around factories, mass production, and a free, diverse, skilled labor force.
- This was the first war where every event was thoroughly photographed.
- Almost every aspect of the conflict was photographed except the actual battle scenes, since exposure times were still in the realm of seconds.
- Matthew Brady (1823-1896), who was a popular portrait studio photographer, quickly organized a group of field photographers to make photographs under actual wartime conditions.
- he stayed in his New York studio and managed the 20 units of field photographers that he had sent out to document the war.
- He fixed them each up with a covered wagon darkroom and sent them to different battles and locations.
- Together they took at least 7,000 negatives.
- At this time, this was the most complete coverage of a major event ever.
Alexander Gardner emigrated from Scotland to the Unites States in 1856.
- He was already an accomplished photographer.
- He associated with Matthew Brady.
- As Brady's eyesight began to fail, Gardner took on increasing responsibilities for Brady's business.
- After Brady decided to photograph the Civil War, Gardner was hired as one of the photographers that Brady sent out to document the war.
- In May 1863, Gardner and his brother James opened their own studio in Washington, D.C, hiring many of Brady's former staff.
- He also documented Lincoln's funeral, and photographed the conspirators involved (with John Wilkes Booth) in Lincoln's assassination.