ABSTRACT

Photographers' role was aided by the introduction of faster processes that could yield multiple prints. The invention of the wet-collodion process enabled photographers to document the many conflicts that took place in the decades following European colonial expansion. Though still cumbersome, the equipment required could be transported by photographers in wagons that also acted as portable darkrooms. Photography began to be employed for propagandistic, commercial and military purposes: governments commissioned images that told specific stories about action overseas, while engravings, photographs, stereographs and cartes de visite were made to supply increasing demand. Although daguerreotypes of the Mexican-American War are regarded as the earliest conflict photographs, the Crimean War saw the first major proliferation of such imagery, including the work of Jean-Charles Langlois, Roger Fenton, James Robertson and Carol Szathmari. The technological limitations on capturing action meant that images mainly documented preparations for battle, its aftermath and army life rather than the drama of conflict.