Primitive Camp Scenes

By Buck Zaidel

Painted canvas backdrops were used by Civil War era photographers to enliven the image, and to place the new warrior in a setting similar to what they were experiencing. Popular military camp scenes featured tents, forts, cannons and a flag or two for sure, placing the soldier in a setting that was now his new life.

Some were fashioned with a high level of artistry showing realism, detail, and proportion lending to a more aesthetic composition for the image.

Others, including the backdrop in this carte de visite of a stern-faced private, are primitive in execution. This view of camp life may have been the result of a less trained or adept artist, or perhaps one who envisioned a folksier depiction of the backdrop scene. Rows of tents, one featuring a flag waving above, a lone tree in the distance, a crude cannon and a stand of arms complete the setting.

The photographer presented a finished portrait with a high degree of technical proficiency and skillful composition. Whatever might have been lost in lifelike realism of the backdrop contrasts with the clear view of the soldier, his musket, lock, and bayonet. A hint of applied color, or gilding, was added to the US belt plate, the eagle breast plate, and the 12th/20th Corps badge atop his slouch hat.

The photographer, British-born Julia Emma Jones, married Edward Samuel Wykes in Portage, Ohio, in 1854. Evidence suggests she participated in the operation of her husband’s galleries in Columbus, Ohio, and may have been involved in his galleries at Pittsburgh, Pa., and Grand Rapids, Mich. Following Edward’s untimely death at age 29 in April 1863—the victim of a bacterial infection coinciding with a vaccination—Julia briefly took over the business before being succeeded by her brother-in-law, Warren Wykes. By 1870, Julia relocated to Galesburg, Ill., where, according to the U.S. Census, she kept house. Julia died the following year at about age 38.

Buck Zaidel is a MI Senior Editor.