One of the star speakers at our forthcoming Festival of Photography at the University of Greenwich on January 31st is Drew Gardner.
Drew is a truly innovative portrait photographer, who has attracted global interest for his project recreating portraits of Black American Civil War soldiers. Drew tracked down the descendants of black soldiers who fought in this pivotal conflict, shooting them in the photographic style of the 1860s.
His previous project, The Descendants, was sparked by the notion that it would be interesting to photograph real-life relations of famous historical figures, rather than actors merely posing as them with no connection.
Later, Drew decided to focus on people who weren’t famous, and who history hadn’t remembered, hence the US Civil War project. ‘We worked with the WikiTree US Black Heritage Project, which is a volunteer genealogy unit, and they helped us understand how we could track down the descendants,’ Drew explained.
A four-year labour of love
‘Then we combed archives in fine detail for photographs of black civil war combatants who were identified and had a name attached to the picture. You need a name to go on, otherwise you don’t have a hope of finding descendants.
We gathered pictures from all over the place including the Library of Congress, private collections, colleges and the National Park service, and found about 120 with names on. We passed them on to the WikiTree group who came back to us with 25 people they believed had living descendants.
Then we went through the painstaking process of tracking them down, getting in touch with them and inviting them to take part. From the inception of the idea to the execution, it took four years.’
Capturing authentic-looking portraits
The next challenge was deciding on the right photographic process to get that characterful ‘1860’s effect.’ As Drew explains, he decided to shoot the project on tintype.
‘I totally get that not all the original pictures I was recreating are tintypes, but it is a medium that has an other-worldly feeling from a different time and place, and that injects the past into the present.
I’d used 5×4 MPP and Speed Graphic cameras when I was 15 and working at the local newspaper doing copy work in the studio, so I already had some relationship with large formats. It felt odd though, 45 years later to find myself shooting large format again – I’d gone back to where I’d started.
It’s easy to fake a sort-of tintype look digitally, even on your phone, but I wanted something a bit more authentic. I’d never actually shot tintype before and didn’t really know how things would turn out, but had a technician with me who had a lot of experience and who knew what he was doing.
We used a Century wooden camera that was the size of a washing machine and a massive Dallmeyer 3B lens from the 1860/70s. To make the exposure, you take the lens cap off and look at your watch to time it – I loved it… With this camera though, exposures were quite long, so we had to use a head support to help the subjects keep still for the whole time.’
Check out some of Drew’s amazing portraits from the US Civil War Project below. He will be talking about this and much more at the Festival of Outdoor Photography, so it’s great chance to find out more about Drew’s work, ask questions and get inspiration for your own photography!
All images Credit: Drew Gardner
Save on tickets to our unmissable Festival of Photography
Other must-hear speakers at our Festival of Photography include celebrity portrait shooter Harry Borden, lifestyle and music photographer Dean Chalkley, hugely experienced all-rounder Denise Maxwell, fashion ace Amanda Akokhia and many more.
Early bird tickets for the Festival of Outdoor Photography are available now, but hurry, as they are selling fast – and the early bird offer closes on November 23rd! Full festival and ticket details here.
