Final Reflection

Since the American Civil War, the history of photography has run parallel to the major events of the United States. Additionally, the technological aspects of photography have progressed over time, from the tintypes of the Civil War to the current digital age; allowing photojournalists to capture the history of the U.S. with ever-increasing and widespread coverage. Photographs not only allow historians to get a glimpse of the moment in time that they are studying, but more importantly, photographs have a credibility and lack of bias that cannot be matched by other mediums, and it is this aspect of photographs which makes them essential to the study of American history.

During the Civil War Matthew Brady, who owned a photo studio where he photographed portraits of many historical figures, decided to break out of the studio and record the history of the war. He organized a staff of photographers and together they began making images on battlefields across the nation.[1]

Although Brady and his team did not cover a lot of battlefield action (mainly because cameras of the time were large and heavy, so this would have been very dangerous), they did photograph a lot of the action behind the lines, including the daily life of soldiers and the casualties of the war.[2]

In 1862, Brady created a gallery of images in New York titled “The Dead of Antietam,” which included many photographs of dead soldiers on the battlefield. His photographs documented the carnage of the war and opened many people’s eyes to the bloodshed of the war. The New York Times said that “Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of the war.”[3] This was one of the first times that photography was used in a journalistic way to show what words could not adequately describe. Not only were these images eye-opening to people who saw them at the time, but they are also now used to study the war.

Although the cliché phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” may not be exactly accurate, we can learn a lot from one photograph. For example, we can see the dress of the men in the photographs, see the weapons that were being used, learn something about the conditions of the battlefield, etc. Additionally, with few exceptions, we can assume that these photographs represent the situation accurately. For example, when one does academic research, it is necessary to cite multiple sources. When looking at primary documents, a white southerner will most likely tell the story of the Civil War much differently than a black slave. However, (although the photographer does choose what they include or do not include in their photographs and what events they go to, which does intuitively create some bias) a photograph shows exactly what happened. Viewpoint discrimination is much less likely; one sees exactly what went on. Because of the polarized viewpoints that were commonplace during the Civil War, this lack of viewpoint discrimination is why photographs have proven so valuable for the study of this conflict and would remain valuable throughout the study of domestic conflicts in the United States.

It can be argued that much of the history of the United States, especially before the Civil Rights Movement, was written by white males who wished to portray themselves in a good light. Lynchings and race riots were common in this time period and were never reported to their full extent. However, one photograph of a white mob surrounding a black man hanging from tree can quickly give historians and students insight into some of the atrocities that happened at the time. Additionally, images of destruction, such as an entire black community burned to the ground as it happened in the Tulsa Race Riots, cannot be disputed.

Another example of the photographs’ ability to display unbiased reality being critical for the study of a tumultuous time in the United States is the study of the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, blacks were often subject to violence by police, people that should have been protecting them. However, many understood how important it was to have these tragedies seen throughout the nation, and because of this, there is documentation of the violence and discrimination that went on during this era.

However, the Civil Rights Movement is also a reminder that photographs, although inherently more neutral than most other journalistic work, are not completely free from bias. The human element involved in the making of a photograph opens this medium up to bias. Photographers, regardless of how objective they try to be, choose what to photograph and what not to photograph. They also choose which pictures they send out to news services. For example, groups such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.) commissioned photographers to photograph events. S.N.C.C. would then print and caption the photos and send them to news outlets. Civil Rights groups also notified photographers in advance to make sure their events were covered.[4]

Although these photographs have proven invaluable in recounting the Civil Rights Movement, it is necessary to remember that even photographs, capturing moments that actually did occur, can represent that situation inaccurately. For example, what if a situation occurred during the Civil Rights Movement in which two photographers came across a situation where a white police officer was acting violently toward a black man, and then the black man reacted in self-defense by striking the police officer? Both photographers took photos of the situation rapidly and captured both the white officer striking the black man and the black man striking the officer. The photographers’ own viewpoints and ethics would determine which photographs they would publish. Taking a photograph is just as much of an editorial decision as choosing which articles to run in a newspaper.

However, despite this opening for partiality, a photograph still remains one of the most important mediums for the study of history. Julian Cox, the curator of photography at the High Museum of Art, said, “The importance of photography could not be overstated in raising public awareness of events.”[5] Clearly, the photographs were important at the time. They helped others know what was going on and see the travesties that were taking place right in their backyards. However, just because many of those events no longer happen does not mean those photographs have lost importance. They will forever be used to study the Civil Rights Movement and can help provide an immediate understanding of some of the atrocities that occurred during that time period. This is one of the reasons that the High Museum recently held an exhibit, titled “Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968,” that displayed 150 images from the Civil Rights Movement.[6] These images will not allow Americans to forget what many worked so hard to accomplish.

Photography is also very important to the study of the Vietnam War. Most importantly, the Vietnam War is one of the few times in the history of the United States that photographs from a war were not heavily censored. Because of this, a wide variety of photographs that showed all sides of the war were published.

For example, Malcolm Browne photographed a monk lighting himself on fire in protest of the treatment of Buddhists in South Vietnam in 1963, Eddie Adams photographed a South Vietnamese chief of national police executing a suspected Viet Cong guerrilla prisoner in 1968, and Nick Ut photographed a young, nude girl running away from a napalm explosion in terror and agony in 1972.[7] All of these photographs were published and displayed the brutal reality of war that many had never seen before. These photos contributed to growing public opinion against the war, which continued to increase until 1973 when the last of the U.S. troops were pulled out of Vietnam.[8]

When viewers see these photographs, they are seeing a moment in history captured exactly as it took place, and they are allowed to interpret that moment of history for themselves. No longer do they question if an event happened, such as a Viet Cong being executed at point-blank range, or napalm being dropped on women and children; a photograph allows them to move past their questioning of reality and begin to question why a specific event happened and what is its significance, questions that lend to the true meaning of studying history.

As time moves forward, photographs will continue to impact how we study history. Now the majority of Americans own a camera or at least a camera phone, and the photographs they take will be studied in the future. Not all Americans write, but nearly all of them take photographs. Because of this, it will continue to get easier to get an average American’s perspective. If a historian of the future wants to know more about fashion, for instance, they will go back through photographs on Flickr, a photo sharing website. Or perhaps that same historian wishes to know more about a specific event or place; they can search Flickr’s images using the tags that users have added to their photographs.[9]

Clearly, photographs are a great way to study the history of the United States. It is hard to imagine a history survey course being taught without the visual aid of photographs. They give us a realistic glimpse into time period we are studying and allow us to see and feel the emotions that Americans felt in the past. The ability of photographs to accurately depict a situation from the past and to then allow others to analyze this situation and its effect on our country is a powerful tool, one that will continue to have an impact on our nation and allow us to better study our past in the future.

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1.“Matthew B. Brady,” The Library of Congress, Civil War Photographs, accessed June 22, 2011, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwbrady.html

2. Ibid.

3. “How photography brought home the Civil War,” MSNBC.com, accessed June 24, 2011, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42541705/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/how-photography-brought-home-civil-war/

4. “Civil Rights Battles, in Black and White,” The New York Times, last modified March 26, 2010, http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/archive-14/

5. “Civil Rights Battles, in Black and White.”

6. Ibid.

7. Kenneth Kobre and Betsy Brill, Photojournalism: the Professionals’ Approach, (Amsterdam: Focal, 2008), 447-49.

8. Ibid.

9. “Flickr of idea on a gaming project led to photo website,” USATODAY.com, accessed July 17, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2006-02-27-flickr_x.htm