ARTH1100 TuTh History of Photography F2015

I’ve taken the train quite often, and the people’s facial expression, today, is ALMOST similar to the ones during the Depression Era. He has taken many pictures of people looking sleepy, upset, concerned and looking at different directions on the train to avoid eye contact. Even though technology has advanced over the years, the facial expression back then is quite similar to the expressions now. The difference is that the children in the train today are smiling with excitement and joy of the ride. Then once in awhile you would see adults or teens enjoying themselves too. During the Depression Era, many people were going through a difficult time, so not many were enjoying themselves as much as we are now. I believe Evan’s approach to photography has captured how people dress and express their feelings on the train. Without having it to be staged, he was able to take a photo of his experience. It gives people a perspective of the riders during the Depression Era. I think he was able to capture the image he was looking for. To capture the riders’ everyday expression during the Depression Era, through a small camera that was attached to his clothing.

When reading  Shannon Taggart’s photography article I kept thinking about post mortem photography. What people wanted with post mortem photography, was to have something to remember their loved ones that passed away. I believed that with spiritualism, individuals wanted to also have something to remember their loved ones. Everyone has different ways to deal with the death of a loved one. Some people say their goodbyes and others seek mediums. Now capturing this phenomenons sounds and looks difficult. Shannon’s photographs are very intriguing and it made me believe in spiritualism. Also photographs like this will make many people question if what they see is true. Just like the photographs by Mumler’s people complained that the shadow spirit were fake. Just like religion some people believe in god and others are atheist. Everyone thinks and believes in different things.

This article puts me to sleep because I don’t believe a word they say. I don’t believe in spiritualism because I think it is a hoax and a bunch of nonsense. There is no way that you can communicate with the dead no matter how much you want to prove it with photographs. Spiritualism is a bunch of tricks that people invent to scare people like in Halloween. There is a lot of spiritualism in Mexico where my parents are from and the people who believe in that are very delusional and considered like if it was a religion which is not. You also see it in horror movies and books, they use spiritualism to scare people and how can you take it seriously if they are using it in a violent way. People who believe in spiritualism and want to prove that is real stuff are just wasting there times because at the end of the day is just nonsense.

In todays photographic process we use mediums such as digital, 35mm film or medium format film. However in the 19th century during the Civil these mediums did not exists. “Wet-plate collodion process dominated photographic production in the mid-19th century.” Tintype photography was a popular medium to use during the Civil War, being able to develop portraits on metal prints.

In the video, Drew kept saying that this kind of process allows photographers to capture the humanity of the person during war. War can take the humanity out of people and with these photos he’s able to capture what left of it in them. The people that they really are out of war.

He takes this personally because he is in control of exposure, lighting and time, and sometimes he’s not able to execute the perfect picture. The sense of rush makes these captures as real a they can get because its the real expression of soldiers in combat and the possible thoughts they may have during the picture. These soldiers getting their portraits done could be thinking about their families or if today is their last day.

In the army, soldiers carry dog tags, it would be interesting if soldiers carried a tintype of themselves, and since more than one can be developed using the process, they can also be sent to the families.

I believe the revival of this old process to document modern warfare is a brilliant idea. It’s amazing how Drew has tintypes of his comrades in Afghanistan, Combat Zone. The tintype will express the individual of the soldiers. To show how much they are willing to protect and serve our country but to reveal that they are also human. I agree that Drew could’ve used a digital camera to shot over hundreds of photos, but it isn’t as unique as tintypes. He had some difficult times, with the weather and his timing. Although it didn’t stop him to pursue his idea of showing their humanity within the shot. As well as the process of the tintype was difficult, as they said “the chemical have to developed the negative while the plate is still wet or the image is ruined”. Personally I think it’s great to have a photo of your loved ones or your heroes in a thin sheet of metal on your hand. It has much more value than just a regular digital photocopy of them. It has more value because the tintype has shown how heart warming the photos can be and timeless they were by the plate color.

http://eddrew.com/combat.php