MRomanych
4th August 2008, 00:51
Photographs are an important part of the historical record. Collectors inspect photos to determine if they are genuine period photos. Historians examine them for the information they may reveal. In either case, the value of a photograph, in monetary and historical terms, increases if the time and place of the image are known. For me, a historian of the Maginot Line, identifying the specific fortification in a photograph is important. This is particularly true for photos of French casemates built along the Rhine River. Very few of these casemates remain today; most having been removed in the 1960’s when the river was widened to facilitate navigation. Thus, in many cases, all that remains of the fortifications are the photographic images.
A few years ago, I purchased the photo below. I spent several hours trying to identify the casemate in the photo. It appeared to be a photo of a French casemate on the west bank of the Rhine River, south of a blown up railway bridge. This should have been a relatively easy matter because: 1) only a handful of the casemates were attacked and damaged in 1940, 2) even a fewer number of casemates were located south of a railway bridge. Furthermore, the damage on the casemate was distinctive. After comparing the photo with several others I have (such as the second image below), I finally realized that the photo was reversed. The casemate was not south of a railway bridge, it was north of the bridge and the view of the photo was not looking north, but rather was to the south. This meant that the casemate was one located opposite the German town of Brisach. Image on the right is the corrected image (fixed using Photoshop).
Since collecting photos of the Maginot Line, I now have several photos in which the image is reversed. Often, this reversal is easy to identify if the image contains letters or words – perhaps assign or uniform item - which will appear backwards. However, with landscape views such markers may not be included in the photo image.
It is improtant to keep this in mind when examining period photos.
A few years ago, I purchased the photo below. I spent several hours trying to identify the casemate in the photo. It appeared to be a photo of a French casemate on the west bank of the Rhine River, south of a blown up railway bridge. This should have been a relatively easy matter because: 1) only a handful of the casemates were attacked and damaged in 1940, 2) even a fewer number of casemates were located south of a railway bridge. Furthermore, the damage on the casemate was distinctive. After comparing the photo with several others I have (such as the second image below), I finally realized that the photo was reversed. The casemate was not south of a railway bridge, it was north of the bridge and the view of the photo was not looking north, but rather was to the south. This meant that the casemate was one located opposite the German town of Brisach. Image on the right is the corrected image (fixed using Photoshop).
Since collecting photos of the Maginot Line, I now have several photos in which the image is reversed. Often, this reversal is easy to identify if the image contains letters or words – perhaps assign or uniform item - which will appear backwards. However, with landscape views such markers may not be included in the photo image.
It is improtant to keep this in mind when examining period photos.