NPR Picture Show: Antietam Photos Recreated

[Brian Moore]

Same Camera, Different Century: Capturing Civil War Sites, 150 Years Later : The Picture Show : NPR

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Man, that's quite the project!

Amazing to see the then and now shots - love that sort of thing

 

[Rob MacKillop]

There was a programme on tv last night about the Paisley-born photographer, Alex Gardner. Fascinating programme, and quite gruesome.

 

[Brian Moore]

That's a coincidence. Sept 17 was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. Gardner's photos from the battlefield brought the horrors of the war to folks in D.C. and the north.

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Brian, really interesting. I like the comment about food but I'd be a bit cautious about keeping my sarnies in with the tasty sounding chemistry. Another component of the system is KCN!

 

[Brian Moore]

Glad you like it, Pete. What's KCN?

 

[Pete Askew]

Well you know the famous poem?

Little Jimmy is no more,
He is dead and gone,
For what he thought was H2O,
Was H2SO4!

KCN is potassium cyanide. Many of of the older wet-plate methods use it as the fixative. Not something to get on your hands before munching a sandwich and if you get the ratios wrong it will liberate cyanide gas!!

 

[Brian Moore]

Sounds delightful. And a lovely little example of poetry to support it, too. Thanks, Pete.

 

[Pete Askew]

There was a programme on tv last night about the Paisley-born photographer, Alex Gardner. Fascinating programme, and quite gruesome.

I have just watched the programme on the BBC iPlayer. Fascinating indeed. Thanks Rob.