“Ambrotypes often were set in elaborately designed, molded, and hinged cases
called Union Cases. The case gave the ambrotype a physical weight. Secured
with a catch, it also maintained an element of surprise, a sense of drama as one held a
jewel box-like object in one’s hands, wondering what was going to be pictured inside.
As the case was opened this sense of theater became part of the viewing experience.”[2]
“Prior to the 1850s, when daguerreotype dominated the world of photography,
viewing the photograph was a private experience between viewer and object.
The non-reproducible daguerreotype, commissioned by a client as a personal memento,
was an elegant and precious object preserved behind glass in
a small case to be viewed and adored by the owner.”[3]
called Union Cases. The case gave the ambrotype a physical weight. Secured
with a catch, it also maintained an element of surprise, a sense of drama as one held a
jewel box-like object in one’s hands, wondering what was going to be pictured inside.
As the case was opened this sense of theater became part of the viewing experience.”[2]
“Prior to the 1850s, when daguerreotype dominated the world of photography,
viewing the photograph was a private experience between viewer and object.
The non-reproducible daguerreotype, commissioned by a client as a personal memento,
was an elegant and precious object preserved behind glass in
a small case to be viewed and adored by the owner.”[3]
RG#1 started as an ambrotype but it didn't stay that way for long. Someone we see in it wanted not a "jeweled icon of remembrance" but a flimsy piece of paper because he could give out plenty of them! He knew this because in his profession, this was already being done and he had already done it himself dressed in costume as Uncas, Chief of the Mohicans (see John Wilkes Booth’s Other Photograph from Richmond 1859-60.)
That man was John Wilkes Booth and from his choice of this unusual media for his ambrotype of RG#1, a print survived to became the iconic group image of the American Civil War.
That man was John Wilkes Booth and from his choice of this unusual media for his ambrotype of RG#1, a print survived to became the iconic group image of the American Civil War.
[1] Mathew Brady cited an Ambrotype as being “as cheap as a reticule, but as durable as Cheops!” (Holiday Souvenirs; Brady’s Gallery, New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 29, 1856)
[2] http://www.luminous-lint.com/IaW/public/5/2/4/3/0/20/TRobert Hirsch Seizing the Light: A Social History of Photography, Second edition (McGraw-Hill, 2009) Chapter: 4 Section: 3 The Ambrotype. [3] Beckner, Sarah, "More than a record: An analysis of the stylistic development in W. H. Jackson's Photography" (1990). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4735&context=theses Pages ii & iii |
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