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Civil war photography essay
Civil war photography essay
Civil war photography essay
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The first camera was built in France. Two French artists named Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre worked together on the camera from 1829 to 1833. When Niépce died in 1833, Daguerre continued working on the camera (Nardo 18). His prototype used a thin, rectangular plate that was coated with a thin layer of silver and exposed to iodine and bromide fumes. The photographer would slide the plate into the back of the camera where it exposed to the sunlight and records the image before the camera (18). Samuel F.B. Morse, commonly known for his invention of the telegraph and Morse code, travelled to Europe in 1838 to track down Daguerre. After observing Daguerre’s camera, Morse travelled back to New York in 1839 where he built a camera based on Niépce and Daguerre’s. He called the images developed by the camera Daguerreotypes (19). Morse began working with John W. Draper to further develop the invention (20).
Years after Morse and Draper’s work, in the mid-1850s, the Daguerreotype was replaced by wet collodion processes (Cooper). This process was just as difficult as the Daguerreotype process; the photographer had to place the wet plate in the plate holder, attach it to the back of the camera, aim the lens at the subject, remove the cover and expose the plate for a few seconds, and finally develop with mercury in a darkroom (Nardo 5-6). The tintype process, a type of collodion process, gained a large amount of popularity before and during the Civil War. Photographers made many small tintypes called “gems” and medals of candidates for the campaign of 1860 (Cooper).
When the Civil War came, photographers not only took portraits of military commanders, but they also photographed scenes of the battlefield, daily life in...
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...d vivid photographs from Antietam were published by newspapers, offering a new personal involvement in the war by civilians (Sachs et al.), (Wala). Even though Gardner’s photos were a breakthrough in Civil War photography, they were rarely credited to him. Brady usually took credit for his work (Wala). Gardner and two other photographers arrived at Gettysburg around the fifth of July, just two days after the conclusion of the battle there (Nardo 9). In Gardner’s photo from July sixth, titled “Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter”, there is enough evidence to conclude that Gardner moved the corpse 72 yards and posed it for dramatic effect (Nardo 10-11). Gardner wanted to make a name for himself and build a reputation, but he could not because Brady was branding Gardner’s work as his own. In 1863, Gardner and Brady split and became competition for each other (Nardo 28).
“Shiloh”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 4 March 2014.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," we say. From the eyes and mind of the archivist studying the pictures of Robert Ross' experience with war, they are worth a lot more. The photographs in the epilogue of Timothy Findley's "The Wars" play an important role in Findley establishing both a trust with the reader, and a sense of realism to his war story. This satisfies the need for realism in his tale. The result of this image that is brought forth through the medium of the photograph, is that we are forced to see the "before" and "after" of Roberts "experience" and figure out our way through what is deposited in between: the cause and effect.
There are many different ways in which the war was represented to the public, including drawings, newspaper articles, and detailed stereographs. Stereographs such as John Reekie’s “The Burial Party” invoked mixed feelings from all of those who viewed it. It confronts the deaths caused by the Civil War as well as touches upon the controversial issue over what would happen to the slaves once they had been emancipated. This picture represents the Civil War as a trade-off of lives- fallen soldiers gave their lives so that enslaved black men and women could be given back their own, even if that life wasn’t that different from slavery. In his carefully constructed stereograph “The Burial Party,” John Reekie confronts the uncertainty behind the newly
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
On April 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln declared to the South that, the only reason that separate the country is the idea of slavery, if people could solve that problem then there will be no war. Was that the main reason that started the Civil war? or it was just a small goal that hides the real big reason to start the war behind it. Yet, until this day, people are still debating whether slavery is the main reason of the Civil war. However, there are a lot of facts that help to state the fact that slavery was the main reason of the war. These evidences can relate to many things in history, but they all connect to the idea of slavery.
Brought into this world on October 17, 1821, Alexander Gardner’s work as a Civil War photographer has often been accredited to his mentor, the better-known Mathew Brady. Only recently has the true extent of Alexander Gardner’s work been acknowledged, receiving the credit that has been long overdue. Born in Paisley, Scotland, Gardner and his family were quite the movers. Relocating to Glasgow, Scotland, shortly after his birth, and later in 1850, to the United States with his brother James in attempt to establish a community in Iowa (CWO). In need of more money to fund the establishment, Gardner returned back to Glasgow and purchased what would soon become one of largest newspapers in the city, and one of the most known newspapers in the entire country, the Glasgow Sentinel. The newspaper made a considerable amount of profit for Gardner and he returned to the United States a year later in 1851, but this time paying another state a visit, New York.
Another version of the story involves a man who was also visiting the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. He took many photographs throughout the day. In the afternoon, a soldier dressed in a floppy hat, gray clothing and “possessing an odor of sulfurous gunpowder” approached him (U.
Shaw, William B., et al. A Photographic History of the Civil War. Six Volumes. New York, New York: The Blue and Grey Press, 1987.
Simpson, Brooks D., Stephen W. Sears, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean, eds. The Civil War: Told by Those Who Lived It. New York: The Library of America, 2011. Print.
The media object selected for analysis is the Daguerreotype. Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre (1787-1851), a Romantic painter and printmaker, had introduced the Daguerreotype on 7th January 1839 and would forever change the perspectives of the visual experience through photography (Daniel, 2004). Ever since the advent of the Daguerreotype, people were able to view a detailed imprinting of a certain visual frame on a treated sheet of copper (which today is called the film) (Daniel, 2004).
“War at its basic level has always been about soldiers. Nations rose and fell on the strength of their armies and the men who filled the ranks.” This is a very powerful quote, especially for the yet young country of the United States, for it gives credit where credit is truly due: to the men who carried out the orders from their superiors, gave their blood, sweat and tears, and in millions of cases their lives while fighting for ideals that they believed their country or government was founded upon, and to ensure the continuation of these ideals. Up until the end of the 20th Century, they did so in the worst of conditions, and this includes not only the battle scene, but also every day life. In this essay, I will examine the daily life of the Civil War soldier, including: identifying WHO he was, drill and training, camp life, supplies he used, clothes he wore, food he ate, on the battlefield, psychological aspects including morale and his attitude toward the war, and his sexual life. That’s right, you read it correctly: HIS SEX LIFE!
"Battles of the Civil War". Civil War. 2013. Civil War Trust. Web. 9 Dec 2013.
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be documented by photography. At the time of the Civil War, it was vital to have public support on both the North and the South side of the dispute. It is also said that if war efforts do not have complete support of its’ citizens that it will not result to any benefits. Photography was one way that was almost guaranteeing support of citizens on the homefront. Photographers had power within their photographs, toying with the pathos of the civilians, and causing them to feel whatever the photographers wanted them to. This power was abused at time by manipulating people’s opinions towards the war. There were pictures coming back from the warfront one after the other which made it impossible for people to feel an emotional connection to the soldiers at war. These photographs allowed events happening miles away to feel like they were closer to home causing people to support the war efforts more heavily. Instead of people having their own opinions during the war, photographers used manipulative
The process of developing the photos is compared to intoning a mass, just as a priest prepares for a funeral to commemorate the dead, the war photographer develops images in remembrance of the victims. Duffy provokes the reader into considering their privilege by comparing how the word ‘problem’ has a different meaning in different places, ‘Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat’. Duffy presents the English as oblivious; they complain about petty issues whilst parents on the other side of the globe pray for food to feed their children. ‘War photographer’ gives the reader an insight to the true horror of war, which can’t be captured through the lens of a Canon
Both Niécpe’s and Daguerre’s cameras took pictures on metal plates. In the same year Daguerre made his camera, an Englishman by the name of William Henry Fox Talbot made the first camera that photographed pictures on paper. The camera printed a reverse picture onto a negative and chemicals were needed to produce the photo up right. In 1861, color film came along and pictures were produced with color instead of being just black and white. James Clerk Maxwell is credited with coming up with color film, after he took the same picture three times, using a different color ribbon....