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Thread: The first war to be photographed?

  1. #1

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    The first war to be photographed?

    Crimea?
    Predates our Civil War by seven years.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #2
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    How did the cannon balls get on the road? (it is a rhetorical question, of course).

  3. #3

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Yes...those cannon balls were moved! Photo by Gardner I believe. There is another photo of the same view with many less canon balls. To lazy to find this right now but somebody will I'm sure!

    M. Brady (mostly his many minions) did lots of stuff like this...even re-posing of corpses - to create photos which were more "effective."

  4. #4

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    It was Roger Fenton who made that picture. Filmmaker Errol Morris has written a long article, trying to decide whether Fenton (and assistant) moved the cannonballs. Many people have opined on the subject... I got tired of the endless discussion (wherever it was posted) so can't summarize it further. I have seen the original print, a few years ago at the National Gallery of Art in Washington; Fenton was a master of the (still very new) medium.

  5. #5

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Layton View Post
    Yes...those cannon balls were moved! Photo by Gardner I believe. There is another photo of the same view with many less canon balls. To lazy to find this right now but somebody will I'm sure!

    M. Brady (mostly his many minions) did lots of stuff like this...even re-posing of corpses - to create photos which were more "effective."
    This is an interesting, in-depth discussion:

    https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...-egg-part-one/

    https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...irst-part-two/

    https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...n-photographs/

    Cameron Cornell
    Washington State

  6. #6

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Layton View Post
    M. Brady (mostly his many minions) did lots of stuff like this...even re-posing of corpses - to create photos which were more "effective."
    This reminds me of an outing at one of AA's Yosemite workshops. A group of participants was turned loose to find images in a junkyard, led by one of AA's assistants - a painter. One of the young fellas set up his camera and started to remove a soda can from his composition; whereupon he was roundly scolded in front of everyone by the painter "You NEVER rearrange an object from a found composition." I felt sorry for the kid and lost all appreciation for the painter. Who knew this unwritten "rule" existed and was never to be broken? Always wondered if the painter would've included the can in a painting.
    Last edited by Jerry Bodine; 7-Dec-2020 at 17:34.

  7. #7

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    The first photographs of war were made in 1847, when an unknown American photographer produced a series of fifty daguerreotypes depicting scenes from the Mexican-American war in Saltillo, Mexico.
    https://www.cartermuseum.org/collect...nia-volunteers
    http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vex...7218648936977/

  8. #8

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Quote Originally Posted by cowanw View Post
    The first photographs of war were made in 1847, when an unknown American photographer produced a series of fifty daguerreotypes depicting scenes from the Mexican-American war in Saltillo, Mexico.
    https://www.cartermuseum.org/collect...nia-volunteers
    http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vex...7218648936977/
    Good to know!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  9. #9
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Those cannonballs were probably shot at some wise guy scolding the photographer for removing a can from the foreground. Or at least that would have been a legitimate use for them!

  10. #10

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    Re: The first war to be photographed?

    Thank you Mr. Cornell- that was the discussion I'd referred to. Someday I'll return to it.

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