CCWP Pulls Out All The Stops for 10th Image of War Seminar

Nov. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- In a jam-packed, three-day weekend, our guests at the 10th annual Image of War seminar heard the life story of the dean of Civil War photohistorians, stood in Gettysburg’s most sacred cupola, visited most of the wartime Gettysburg photo locations, viewed the images in 3D, endeavored to solve Gettysburg’s enduring photo-mysteries, and saw firsthand the magic of wet-plate photography.  
   The CCWP’s 10th anniversary seminar was held Oct. 1-3, and it was our most ambitious seminar yet.
   The program began on Friday morning with photographic walking tours of the Borough of Gettysburg presented by CCWP advisory board member Tim Smith. After our welcome lunch on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, guests were treated to a rare opportunity—a visit to the seminary’s famous cupola with Adams County Historical Society director Wayne Motts. The cupola served as a key observation post for Union, then Confederate, soldiers and upon viewing the scene for oneself, it is clear why. The afternoon also included Smith-led tours of the First Day’s field in the footsteps of Mathew Brady.  
   That evening, in an event even rarer than a seminary cupola visit, William A. Frassanito, whose seminal work, Gettysburg: A Journey in Time spawned the field of study which uses Civil War photographs as historical documents, gave a lengthy slideshow about his personal journey with Civil War photos.  One attendee later wrote, “Frassanito was like a gift from the history gods. The whole thing was just brilliant.” Frassanito’s entire 2½-hour presentation is being shown in segments at www.gettysburgdaily.com.
   Saturday was dedicated to following in the July 1863 footsteps of Alexander Gardner and his assistants on the south end of the Second Day’s field. While the work of Mathew Brady, the Weavers, the Tysons, William Tipton and others was covered, Gardner’s images of the human toll stole the show.  Of the fewer than 100 Civil War images showing dead soldiers on the field, 30 percent of these were recorded at these two places (with more images recorded at unknown, Gettysburg locations). For some, standing right where the photographers stood was an unforgettable, experience. Smith and CCWP Vice President Garry Adelman expounded on the various views of the breastworks on Little Round Top, as well as the vistas from the summit and the commercialization of the area.
   Making the on-site experience even more meaningful was the brand new Gettysburg in 3-D presentation shown that evening at the Dobbin House. CCWP President Bob Zeller and CCWP Director of Imaging John Richter’s polarized, slide presentation absolutely wowed the crowd!  Zeller and Richter, whose new book, Lincoln in 3-D, was unveiled at the seminar, are the masterminds behind all of CCWP’s 3D shows.  That the exhausted group eagerly participated in CCWP’s legendary raffle (to which was added a particularly lively live auction emceed by CCWP Director of Grants and former DJ Justin Shaw) shows the nearly endless energy of our guests. For those who still couldn’t get enough, dozens came to a night owl, show-and-tell session at which attendees displayed and discussed their collections and discoveries.
   The closing day was no less ambitious, with discussions focusing upon solving Gettysburg’s photo mysteries as well as more battlefield photo tours. The first portion of the photo mysteries talk consisted of Adelman’s outline of ongoing wartime and postwar photo mysteries (images for which we don’t know the locations) and CCWP member Tom Danninger’s incredible work on using GIS-based software to select possible locations for various Civil War images. Even on his powerful computer, it takes weeks just for the computer to analyze the topography, vegetation, structures and other battlefield data! Will this become a key part of photo-sleuthing in the future?
   The second portion of the photo mysteries talk was given by wet plate photographer and CCWP co-founder Rob Gibson, who used his particular experience to detail strategies for finding elusive photo-locations. Attendees were also captured on glass in the seminar staple wet plate group photo.  Smith-led tours of Cemetery Ridge, East Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill rounded out the event. All the major photographic areas were covered.
   The next Image of War seminar will be held in October 2011 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Check www.civilwarphotography.org for more information.

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The Center for Civil War Photography was founded in 1999 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The mission of the Center for Civil War Photography is to educate the public about Civil War photography, its role in the conflict, and its rich variety of forms and formats; to digitally secure original images and preserve vintage prints; to enhance the accessibility of photographs to the public; and to present interpretive programs that use stereoscopic and standard images to their fullest potential. The CCWP’s website is at http://www.civilwarphotography.org.