[Petersburg, Virginia] 1865

Timothy O’Sullivan made this photograph of Petersburg, Virginia, using a glass plate negative, a laborious process involving coating, exposing, and developing on the spot. The resulting albumen print has a distinctive sepia tone and remarkable detail, but it’s not just a technical marvel. The photo captures a pivotal moment in the Civil War, a siege that devastated the city. You can see the signs of industry and habitation, but also the scars of conflict. O'Sullivan's choice of photography as a medium was deliberate. Unlike painting, photography was seen as objective, a mechanical recording of reality. Yet, his artistic choices – composition, lighting, viewpoint – reveal a deeper narrative. By focusing on the landscape and cityscape, rather than the battlefield heroics, he emphasizes the human cost of war, the impact on the everyday lives of ordinary people. This photograph challenges the traditional hierarchy between art and documentation, reminding us that even the most seemingly objective images are imbued with the maker's perspective and the weight of history.