E Block Gardner Discussion

The 2nd of December

jcaine 03 Dec 2010 00:02

We discussed the emergence of photography in the 1830's and how this new technology was utilized during the Civil War. Gardner's images are the most published images of the Civil War. Because a photo took several minutes to create, Gardner crafted his images artfully, ensuring everything was the way he wanted it to be. The long time it took to photograph also meant that no battle shots could be taken, only shots depicting the aftermath of war.
We then reviewed how to read a photo. These steps can be viewed under the Gardner tab under "texts". As a class, we read a photo together entitled Scene In Pleasant Valley, Maryland. We discussed the people, the porch, the trellis, the significance of the black woman, and much more.
After, we split up into groups in preparation for presenting more photos tomorrow, and spent the remainder of class working in our groups.

3rd of December

Capra 05 Dec 2010 20:07

Today our groups presented slides from the Gardner images. The first one was called "What Do I Want, John Henry?". It was a photo of union soldiers with a black man carrying food and two big white tents in the back. There was a pattern formed by the triangles of the tents and the legs of the men. There seemed to be a hierarchy, with the important men sitting down. The black man had on a uniform, which showed assimilation. Therefore this image was Emancipationist.

The next presented image was "Scouts and Guides to the Army of the Potomac". This photo contained 9 men, all union soldiers. They were scouts, possibly found by the enemy. The blankets and supplies suggested it was a base camp, located in a forest. They were pretty scraggly men, all boasting long beards. There were lots of vertical lines, shown by the trees, tents, light, shadows, and the people standing up straight. There was an apparent hierarchy as well. Some of the men were standing up, whereas others were seated. This image was deemed Reconciliationist because black people were out of the scene, and it was honoring white soldiers who fought in the war.

The third image, and arguably the best, was called "The Home of a REBEL Sharpshooter". This photo showed a man lying in-between two big rocks, obviously dead. He was in a narrow barricade, with his gun propped up against one of the rocks, ready for use. The trees in the distance gave this image a secluded and peaceful feel. The V shaped picture draws you into the man, almost looking like a tomb and final resting place for the fallen soldier. The color pattern of the man is the same of the rocks and the dirt, enabling him to blend in with his surroundings. The presenting group was sadly mistaken in depicting this as an Emancipationist photo, but hey, you win some you lose some!

The fourth and final image was called "A Burial Party". This desolate, aftermath image showed six skulls, near a hunched over black man. There were men in the background, cleaning up the dead bodies from the war. It gave a dead feeling, with the dead grass and skulls, almost as if the only life is distant and far away. The group noticed some patterns in the clothing, the tilt of the photo, and the shadows. There were 5 skulls all on a wheelbarrow, with 1 fallen on the ground. The head of the black guy was in the same position as the skulls, almost insinuating that slavery is as good as death. Even the skulls of the dead white soldiers seemed to be privileged over the blacks. There was an awkward disagreement over whether this photo was Emancipationist or Reconciliationist, but then again, all the photos seemed to pose this ambiguity.