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Albumen Photo
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For most people Civil War photography was when a guy in a white jacket made everybody stand still for a really time in front of a huge camera, he did some photography stuff, and the image shows up in hundreds of Civil War books. Fortunately the real history of Civil War photos is much more involved and interesting than that.
The first real photographic technique to be used was daguerreotypy. Many of the pre-Civil War photographs you see were taken as daguerreotypes, such as portraits of families, celebrities, and politicians. Abraham Lincoln is perhaps the most famous example. Daguerreotypes were basically silver-coated copper plates that were carefully prepared in chemicals before being exposed and developed.
Quick on the heels of the daguerreotype came what is known as the collodion wet plate process. Very simply, the wet plate process cut down on many chemicals and techniques and created photo negatives, which were much easier and faster to produce. The ambrotye was the first wet plate photo but the tintype came onto the photographic scene just in time for the Civil War. Ambrotype photos were on glass plates, tintypes were on iron (not tin).
Both photo types were heavily used during the Civil War in city portrait studios and on battlefields alike. Union and Confederate soldiers swarmed to get their photos taken, mostly on tintypes, and later on cabinet card and carte de visite (CDV) albumen prints. Don't worry, that basically means mostly paper and cardstock prints. With cheap tintypes, CDVs, and cabinet photos, Union soldiers sent their likenesses to their sweethearts up north and Confederates sent theirs to their Belles. Soldiers posed bravely in the studios with their muskets, rifles, knives, and uniforms before being sent off to fight.
On Civil War battlefields photographic history was being made as brave photographers like Matthew Brady, Alexander Gardner, George Barnard, and others followed the Union and Confederate armies around during campaigns and captured the carnage for all the world to see. During the long spells between battles, soldiers, engineers, slaves, and servants would pose for camp scene photos and humorous poses to break the monotony.
Never was a war so fully documented before in history as was the Civil War. Civil War photos were fascinating back then and still are today. Many are surprised to learn that 3D photographs called stereographs were created and many famous Civil War photos were taken as stereographs. Civilians in cities could step into galleries and witness the horrific bloodshed at Antietam or Gettysburg in 3D with a lift of the stereograph viewer to their eyes.
There seems to have been countless numbers of Civil War photos that were taken, but they are steadily disappearing as photos wear and fade with time. In fact, many people were so sick of the carnage that by the end of the war, thousands were tossed away or used in glass houses to be destroyed quickly by the sun. There are though, still many of these priceless photographs available today, as precious reminders of the men who fought and died, and the people who struggled throughout the most devastating war America has ever seen.
J. F. Borno writes about tintypes, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, stereographs, civil war tintypes, and all other forms of early photography.
Who Collects Carte De Visite Photographs?
Carte de visites are paper photographs that were wildly popular in the mid-19th century, but were still made into the 1900s. They are black and white prints but the older CDVs have a distinct cream-sepia color to them. The cabinet card and later photographic processes made them obsolete, so the question remains, who still collects carte de visite photos?
CDVs are collected by historians of early photography or of history in general. Photographers love to learn as much as they can about their craft and learning its history hands-on is very helpful. History buffs collect carte de visites because they love being immersed in the times. Civil War historians love to collect photos of soldiers and CDVs are generally a cheaper alternative than say tintypes or daguerreotypes. It is exciting for someone interested in history to know that they own something that was at the time a brand new technology that was cherished by friends and relatives alike. Historians study every detail of carte de visites including captions, backmarks, tax stamps, signatures, intricate designs, and of course the images themselves.
Even those not particulary interested in the history itself collect CDVs. Those fascinated with early Victorian dress styles and fashions enjoy collecting them, as do those interested in early interior design or antique studio props. Women in 1800s wedding dresses are interesting to modern brides and celebrity albumen prints are popular as well. Some people just collect carte de visites for different hat styles, hair styles, or wild suits. Some love CDV photographs with animals, early bicycles, or interesting architecture.
There's really no limit to who collects carte de visite photographs. I never imagined I would be interested in them until I began to learn more about their history and the history of the people in them. CDVs, like other forms of early photography, truly are unique and cherishable keepsakes.
About the Author
J.F. Borno enjoys writing about early carte de visite photos and tintype photos, among other early photographic processes.
Fine Selection of Photographic Images Announced at Sotheby's
Manuel-Álvarez Bravo, Los Agachados. Est. $50,000-70,000. Photo: Sotheby's. NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s 6 October 2010 auction of Photographs presents a fine selection of photographic images dating from the medium’s earliest years to those by some of best photographers of the 20th century and the present day.
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