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Carla-Jean Profile picture
Carla-Jean
@CarlaJeanStokes
MAs in history & photo preservation, historian of war photography ✌🏼
Aug 24, 2022 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
One thing that can be a little bit surprising is the degree to which pre-digital photographers were able to alter their photographs.

In fact, the tools we use today in Photoshop are often named after their darkroom counterparts: dodge, burn, mask, layer, and more 👇🏼🧵 Photograph of a darkroom wi... Today I want to talk about what happens usually after the print goes to press (as opposed to changes the photographer themselves might do, though they could).
May 22, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Guys, I'm really happy and proud to be your #1 source of knowledge on visual culture (I kid, I kid).

Today, its apparently necessary to point out that paintings sometimes* convey messages rather than straightforward & literal moments in history.

*Pretty much always. Examples 🧵 I find myself often giving my hot takes on how photography is subjective.

The photographer chooses what to depict. It's their way of saying "hey! Look at this!"

It's less often that anyone needs to explain to fully grown ass adults that paintings are not literal.
Nov 8, 2021 • 20 tweets • 6 min read
Today, let's talk about some handy tips to determine whether #FWW photographs you might have at home are Canadian or British official 👇🏼🧵 Photograph is: Ivor Castle, A trench on the Canadian Front showing Trunk Holes, May 1917, private collection.
Nov 7, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I've got just enough time to answer another question from last week's photography talk with @LCMSDS.

This one is from @crg498: "Rider-Rider is an interesting surname. What can you tell us about his background and family history?" Rider-Rider IS an unusual surname. So much so, that I’ve had a TON of trouble finding much about his genealogy. We know that he married a Rosina Ada Hill and that they had a son together less than 9 months later.

What did they name that babe? William Rider-Rider, of course.
Oct 8, 2021 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
So what was this poll all about? Read on to learn more about how you can easily identify Canadian official First World War photographs based on some physical attributes 🧵👇🏽 The other morning, I had a collector friend send me an email about a photograph he was looking at on eBay. He had done some googling and found this site, claiming the photograph was taken by a nurse.

cbrl.ca/mclennans/war.…
Jul 30, 2021 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
War photography exhibitions date back to the mid-19th century. Some of the earliest included images of the Crimea and the US Civil War.

In recent decades, we've seen some excellent exhibitions of #warphotos, and I've listed a few catalogues here below 👇🏽 One of the most important texts that you need to check out is Anne Wilkes Tucker (et al’s) “War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and its Aftermath.” This exhibition was mounted at the MFA Houston in 2012.
Jul 29, 2021 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Today I’ve got a bunch of great memoirs - all written by early press photographers and all have links to download fo’ free!

(Photo by Emre Can Acer from Pexels) Image To start, here's Herbert Baldwin's "A War Photographer in Thrace." Baldwin was later hired as Australia's official photographer for a brief time in the #FWW.

archive.org/details/ldpd_6… Image
Jun 17, 2021 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Great question! Lots to talk about with this one.

First of all, collectors do love to get their hands on vintage prints. In a lot of cases it means you've acquired a print made by the person who also took the negative. Having both would be a serious coup 👇🏻🧵 It's important to note that some photographers almost never made prints from their own negatives. Photojournalists are sometimes a good example of this.

First World War photographers had a hand in developing their negs, but they didn't make prints.
May 26, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Photograph taken by Ivor Castle, September 1916, O-758. This photograph was taken close to the same time as Castle's series Over the Top 👇🏻👇🏻 It's not super weird that the NY Tribune published it nearly 2 years later. The New York Times' Midweek Pictorial also published photographs a little later than when they were taken (not always this late though).
Apr 30, 2021 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
I spend most of my time analyzing how #VimyRidge was represented in photographs, but every now and then I have to turn to text too.

A few things to point out in this 1917 article from the Canadian War Pictorial 👇🏻 One thing to admit: this is only one report of the battle but it was written by the Canadian War Records Office, and who was more likely to aggrandize this event than the Canadians who produced wartime propaganda?*
Apr 15, 2021 • 29 tweets • 5 min read
Hi Everyone! I'd love for you all to participate in this #duffhistory poll. I had some trouble wording it quite the way I wanted it to, but essentially I'd love to know if you've seen any of the following photos online and been swayed by misinformation.

Go on, be honest 👇🏼 I paired it up with a super old pic of me holding a vintage camera, because we need to get some visibility and beat that algorithm, fam. Share away to your hearts content!
Mar 23, 2021 • 26 tweets • 7 min read
A new #warphotos thread to brighten up your Tuesday and you’re going to want to bookmark this one. What follows is a step-by-step guide on how to find Canadian official First World War photographs. Image (Photograph is: Lt. Charles Hemming “Chas” Hastings, CWRO Records Officer, ca. 1916-1919, unattributed, LAC MIKAN 3216622).
Mar 22, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
It’s twitter poll time! There has been recent interest in organizing a Canadian Military History Book Club online.

Sound vaguely interesting to you? Please answer the 3 questions below and share with your tweeps 😊 I’d love to join an online book club devoted to themes of Canadian Military History!
Mar 19, 2021 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
I’d like to start this thread by stating that the proper title of this photograph is: Dressing Wounded in Trench During the Battle of Courcelette. It was taken in September 1916 by Canadian official First World War photographer Ivor Castle. It belongs to LAC, and is PA 00909. Image I’ve been researching Castle’s life and career for about four years (although he didn’t leave much behind for us). Learn more about Castle (and importantly, how and why he and other official photographers were hired) here:
Nov 10, 2020 • 20 tweets • 7 min read
In honour of #RemembranceDay2020 tomorrow, I'll be posting quick bios of most of the commonwealth #FWW photographers - beginning today with the Brits 🇬🇧 #thread #warphotos Image Photograph is: A gas sentry ringing an alarm at Fleurbaix, 15 miles south of Ypres, June 1916, Ernest Brooks, © IWM Q 669 #warphotos
Oct 11, 2020 • 25 tweets • 9 min read
One of the most iconic First World War photographs - Ivor Castle’s 'Over the Top' - turns 104 years old this month. Let’s explore the history of this extremely famous (yet misunderstood) photograph #thread #warphotos (This #thread is derived from a talk I gave last year for Remembrance Day, but as we all know, this year looks a little different. Alas, the magic of the internet).
Jul 22, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Today marks the 76th anniversary of the funeral of Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit (CFPU) cameraman, James "Jimmy" Campbell. Learn more about Jimmy below 👇🏼 Jimmy was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1906, but enlisted for the war from Vancouver. He had been working as a cameraman for Columbia Studios. Enlisting in Vancouver, he became a member of the @SeaforthOfC
Feb 17, 2020 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
Who's ready for a #thread on the materiality of photographs!? If it sounds thrilling, it's because it is I recently purchased the above photographic print on eBay. When we look at the image, we see a very memorable: "Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Stretcher bearers struggle in mud up to their knees to carry a wounded man to safety near Boesinghe," 1 August 1917, by Ernest Brooks.
Feb 16, 2019 • 24 tweets • 6 min read
A Saturday afternoon #thread on different historical photographic processes using, in honour of #BlackHistoryMonth, representations of African Americans. Saddle up kids! 👇🏿👇🏿 Daguerreotype is: [African American woman], ca. 1850, unattributed Daguerreotype with applied color, George Eastman Museum, 1969.0201.0020.
Feb 5, 2019 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
A quick break from #BlackHistoryMonth to talk about the #LunarNewYear - I did a similar search for Chinese representations in Canadian official war photographs, and found 10 results. Here's a little #thread about them - (Photograph is: Chinese Labour Battalions in France celebrating the Chinese New Year on February 11, 1918. William Rider-Rider, LAC MIKAN 3396797) #warphotos
Feb 1, 2019 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Today marks the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth - here's a quick little thread on my very preliminary findings re: photographs of black Canadians in Canada's official First World War photographs 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿 (Photograph is: Three black soldiers in a German dug-out captured during the advance East of Arras, October 1918, William Rider-Rider).