Walt Whitman

Author | Poet

Walt Whitman, famed American poet, was known not only for his writing but his interest in photography and photographs. In fact, he was the most photographed author of his time and was infatuated with images of himself. Long after he put down his pen he still routinely invited photographers to visit his Camden home — fretting over the details of their work and burning images he did not like.

Stereocards

Seeing Double

Whitman was so commonly photographed, over such a long period of time, his catalogue of images provide a fascinating look into a rapidly changing technology. He was one of the few people in his era to appear on multiple stereocards. A stereoscope was a viewing tool, that when looked through combined a pair of stereoscopic images; one for the left eye and one for the right. When viewed together the combination of images create a 3-Dimentional representation of a scene.

Pictured: The image transitions between my layered edits of the two frames of a stereocard. The original card is the background at the top of this page.

Abraham Lincoln

American President

This is one of the last known recorded images of Abraham Lincoln. Photographed on February 5th, 1865 by Alexander Gardener, this picture was taken only a month before his assassination. The print was originally commissioned to be used as the template for his presidential portrait. While Matthew Wilson’s resulting painting has been all but forgotten, the photograph has become an iconic American image.

Lewis Powell

Rebel With A Cause

This is the final image of Lewis Thorton Powell — a confederate soldier co-opted into the kidnapping attempt of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. When their original kidnapping attempt was foiled by Lincoln, cancelling his appearance at an earlier play, they began to plan a series of assassinations. On April 15th, while Booth killed Lincoln, Powell burst into the home of Secretary of State William Seward, stabbing him several times before fleeing. This image of Powell was taken aboard the USS Saugus before he was hung in July of 1865.

Vietnam

War is Hell

This image was captured on June 18th, 1965, near the Phouc Vinh airstrip in South Vietnam. The photo captures Larry Wayne Chaffin, a 19 year old soldier from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion. The picture’s German photographer, Horst Fass, said this image stood out to him because the soldier’s bright eyes so heavily contrasted the darkness of the world around him. They also draw the viewer into the famous General William Tecumseh Sherman quote emblazoned across his helmet, “War is Hell.”

Dive into Portraiture

The First Underwater Portrait

This image, taken by Louise Boutan, is often misconstrued as the first underwater photo, when in actuality it is the World’s first underwater portrait. Photographed in the late 1890’s, the shot captures Boutan’s colleague, Emil Racovitza, standing on the seafloor with a sign illustrating their accomplishment. The plaque reads, “Photographie Sous Marine”, which translates to “Underwater Photography.” The most impressive part of the image is actually off camera, as Boutan had to personally design a massive waterproof dry-flash and camera enclosure to accommodate the primitive technology of the time.

Kyudoka

Master Archers

This image was captured, circa 1860, in the heart of Japan. The men pictured are performing Kyudo, the Japanese art of Zen Archery.

Hunting bows were developed in Japan before the recording of its modern history, and the asymmetrical longbow (Yumi) pictured here has appeared in printed images since approximately 500 BC. The three men, dressed in traditional kimonos and hakama, are demonstrating the slow meditative draw of the Yumi, a hallmark of the art still practiced today.