Conflict photography has played a crucial role in shaping public perception of war, serving as a visual record of historical events and influencing attitudes towards conflict. In the mid-19th century, as photographic technology advanced, early war photographers took on the challenging task of documenting the battlefield. These pioneering efforts paved the way for modern photojournalism and forever changed how war was perceived by those at home. Through painstaking effort, they captured the grim realities of warfare, overcoming the immense technical challenges of the time to create images that still resonate today.

The Beginnings: The Crimean War (1853–1856)

One of the first major conflicts to be photographed was the Crimean War, fought between Russia and an alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. The most notable photographer of this war was Roger Fenton, a British photographer commissioned to document the conflict for the British government. Fenton’s images, taken between 1854 and 1855, depicted the harsh conditions of the battlefield but deliberately avoided showing dead soldiers, as his work was intended to keep public support for the war. His most famous image, The Valley of the Shadow of Death, showed a barren landscape strewn with cannonballs, capturing the aftermath of battle without the graphic violence.

Fenton’s work was groundbreaking, but the limitations of photographic technology at the time made capturing live combat impossible. The wet plate collodion process, which he used, needed long exposure times, meaning subjects had to remain still for several seconds to be properly photographed. This meant that battlefield action was impossible to document in real-time. Instead, Fenton focused on carefully composed images of soldiers, landscapes, and the wreckage of war, painting a stark yet sanitised picture of the conflict. His photographs were shown in London, giving the British public an unprecedented, albeit controlled, glimpse of war.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) and the Rise of Battlefield Documentation

The American Civil War marked a significant advancement in war photography. Photographers such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy O’Sullivan used their cameras to document the devastation of war in a more direct and unfiltered manner than Fenton. Unlike earlier war photography, their images included graphic depictions of dead soldiers, destroyed landscapes, and the grim realities of battle.

Brady, often regarded as the father of war photography, organised a team of photographers to capture the war’s events. His studio produced thousands of images, many of which were published in newspapers and displayed in exhibitions. One of the most harrowing collections was Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War, which included images such as The Dead at Antietam, a photograph that shocked the public by displaying bodies strewn across the battlefield.

Unlike Fenton, these photographers embraced the brutality of war, using photography as a tool for historical record-keeping and public awareness. The use of the wet plate collodion process, while still cumbersome, allowed for greater detail and reproducibility than earlier methods. Photographs were taken on glass plates, then printed and widely distributed, making them some of the earliest examples of photojournalism. The impact of these images was profound, Americans who had never seen the realities of war were now faced with stark, undeniable evidence of its brutality.

Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) and the Evolution of Conflict Photography

The Franco-Prussian War marked another step forward for war photography. As technology improved, photographers were able to capture more spontaneous moments of war, although the majority of images still consisted of posed scenes or post-battle devastation. Photographers such as Bruno Braquehais focused on the Paris Commune of 1871, producing haunting images of destroyed buildings and the executions of revolutionaries.

Despite advancements, battlefield photography remained difficult. Images of actual combat were still rare due to long exposure times, forcing photographers to focus on the aftermath of battles, military encampments, and prisoners of war. However, with each conflict, war photography edged closer to capturing the reality of battle as it unfolded. Braquehais and his contemporaries took advantage of shorter exposure times, allowing for more natural, less staged images. The devastation of war was becoming clearer, with images portraying not just soldiers but the civilian toll, ruined cities, and the widespread destruction left in war’s wake.

The Role of Early War Photographers in Shaping Public Perception

The images from these early conflicts brought war into the public consciousness in an unprecedented way. Previously, war had been understood primarily through paintings, written accounts, and illustrations. Photography, however, presented stark and undeniable truths. These images were not romanticised battle scenes or artistic interpretations, they were real, unaltered moments frozen in time.

Fenton’s carefully composed yet haunting images of the Crimean War helped control the narrative, but they also sparked conversations about the suffering of soldiers. The raw and unfiltered imagery of the American Civil War forced the public to confront the human cost of battle in a way they had never experienced before. The photographs from the Franco-Prussian War illustrated the destruction of entire cities and the political upheavals of the time. They functioned as evidence of history, documenting moments that words alone could not fully convey.

Legacy and Influence on Modern War Photography

The work of these early photographers set the foundation for modern war photography. Later conflicts, such as World War I and World War II, saw further advancements in technology, making it easier to capture live combat. The transition from large plate cameras to handheld devices allowed photographers to move closer to the action, leading to the emergence of combat photojournalists such as Robert Capa in the 20th century.

As photography evolved, so too did its role in conflict. By the 20th century, war photographers were no longer just observers but active participants in shaping public opinion. The ability to capture images in real-time meant that the horrors of war were no longer just seen after the fact but as they happened. Photographs of the Normandy landings, the Vietnam War, and more recent conflicts in the Middle East owe their existence to the pioneering efforts of Fenton, Brady, Gardner, and others who braved the dangers of war armed only with a camera.

Despite the challenges faced by early war photographers, their work stays a critical part of historical archives, preserving visual records of conflicts that shaped the modern world. Today, many of these images are housed in museums and digital archives, continuing to educate and inform future generations. Their legacy is not just in the images they left behind but in the ongoing pursuit of truth through the lens of a camera, a pursuit that continues to define war photography today.

Regards

Alex