Midterm Images

As discussed, next class will be our midterm.

If you have any questions regarding our forthcoming midterm that were not addressed in our last class review please feel free to contact me.

Best,

Thomas.

CLASS FIVE NOTES

The US Geological Survey

First Director: Clarence King (1879 - 1881)

The USGS was created by an act of Congress on March 3, 1879.  It was charged with the

“classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources,

and products of the national domain.”  This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast

Lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803

Please visit the USGS at:   www.usgs.gov

West of the 100th Meridian along the 40th Parallel

Artists and expedition engineers to participate in the documentation and identification of the West.

 The Third View

http://www.thirdview.org/3v/rephotos/index.html

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Documentation:

Photographic documentation has come to refer to pictures created with the intent to inform

rather than inspire or express personal feelings. 

Industrial Development:

Industrial development symbolized and displayed the physical changes made possible by

new technologies and new materials.

Photographic Documentation:

 Photography was regarded as an exemplary record because it was thought to provide an

  objective - that is, unaltered -view of solid fact and achievement.

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The Crystal Palace: 1851

The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London was conceived to symbolize this industrial, military and economic

superiority of Great Britain.  Just representing the feats of Britain itself would have excluded many of the

technological achievements pioneered by the British in its many colonies and protectorates, so it was decided

to make the exhibit truly international with invitations being extended to almost all of the colonized world.

The British also felt that it was important to show their achievements right alongside those of "less civilized"

countries. The prevailing attitude in England at the time was ripe for the somewhat arrogant parading of

accomplishments. Many felt secure, economically and politically, and Queen Victoria was eager to reinforce

the feeling of contentment with her reign. It was during the mid-1850s that the word "Victorian" began to be

employed to express a new self-consciousness, both in relation to the nation and to the period through which

it was passing.

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Documentation of war and conflict

Early war coverage:

Roger Fenton

William Howard Russell:  Reporter for London Times provided dispatches

Detailing the horrifying conditions under which the soldiers lived.

Thomas Agnew (a Manchester publisher) and royal patronage

From the Secretary of State for War supported Fenton’s coverage

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 The Civil War in the United States (1861 - 1865)

Mathew Brady

Belief in the role of the camera as historian. 

Impresario:  Orginizer, supplier, and publisher -

Corps of about 20 photographers

July, 1861 - 1863

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Alexander Gardner
Gardner's photographic sketch book of the war

Quiz Images