The Absence That is Present: Civil War Photography, 1862-201

In 1862, Alexander Gardner captured some of the best-known photographs of the Civil War at Antietam. Since then his photographs have been part of a varied history cycling from open publicity to obscurity and back again. In recent years, photographers have turned to Gardner's photographs for inspiration when creating new photographs of the Civil War: rephotography. David Levene and Sally Mann are two examples that approach rephotography from different directions. Levene and Mann go to Antietam to photograph what the war left behind. The content of the photographs was analyzed to see what was present and what was not. The artists' intent was taken into consideration where possible. The photographs represent the Civil War through what is absent, through what is missing. Gardner's photographs depict the aftermath of the battle; Levene's highlight what is there no longer; Mann's explore the spectral traces that remain. They each commemorate Antietam while making September 17, 1862 more real for modern viewers.