Certainly the very first photograph to be taken has to appear in my list, but its impact was not immediately felt around the world. As a matter of fact it didn't even make the Saint-Loup-De-Vanennes, France evening news and truth be known its claim of being the first true photograph began to fade when the image was at the beginning of the twentieth century. Luckily for its creator Joseph Nicephore Niepce the image was located again in 1952 by photographic historian Helmut Gernsheim once again assuring Mr. Niepce's place in history (although I doubt he cared much since he has been dead for 182 years) as the first photographer. The photograph is now housed at the University of Texas's Harry Ransom Research Center in Austin Texas, which seems only fitting since Texas is such a hotbed of photographic history. Detail is rather hard to distinguish in the original plate, but after a little digital magic is applied you can clearly see the buildings and rooftops of a town. Hats off to Mr. Niepce for inventing something that would truly for evermore change the world.
The photographic process made steady progress in the years following Niepce's first attempts, and while it was still a complicated undertaking the images that it was capable of creating when all the right conditions were in place were quite remarkable. By 1861 the photographic wet plate system was ready for prime time and America was about to provide the world with a view of just how brutal armed conflict between nations or in America's case, brothers, had become. Without a doubt Mathew Brady is the most famous photographer to ever live and his name is synonymous with the American Civil War. Brady was born in in Warren County, New York, near Lake George on May 18, 1822. He began his professional life as an artist studying under portrait painter William Page but after being exposed to the new science of photography by his friend, artist-inventor Samuel Morse, he decided in 1844 to open his own photographic studio in New York City circa. His studio was successful and by the time the Civil War started Brady's was able to employ several photographers who he tasked to follow the Union Armies into the field to collect images of the war. In October of 1862 he opened an exhibition of photos taken shortly after The Battle of Antietam ended entitled "The Dead of Antietam." The photos revealed detailed scenes of dead soldiers, animals, and general destruction of the landscape around and on the battlefield. The images of death and mayhem that abounded in the photos shocked and appalled the crowds that flocked to see them, and for the first time in history the complacent general public got a taste of just how savage modern war had become. For his contributions to our social conscious, Mathew Brady's "The Dead of Antietam" gets the Number 9 slot.
The human psyche is a most strange entity, it appears that when we are not the ones being victimized by robbers, killers, and con persons we tend to develop a twisted admiration for these social misfits, and nowhere else was this more evident than during the late nineteenth century. Sociopaths like Jesse James, Doc Holiday, Cherokee Bill, and John Wesley Hardin were morphed into romantic Robin Hood type characters by the so called Dime Novel writers of the day. Young impressionable readers back in the large eastern cities like Philadelphia and New York devoured the embellished writings of men like Ned Buntline who gained fame by his association with Wyatt Earp. Photographers loved to take photos of these folk hero outlaws and the outlaws reciprocated by humbly posing to have their photos taken. You can view numerous portraits of old west criminals both dead and alive by doing a simple internet search. But the one outlaw that to this day seems to garner the attention of modern society and stands hand and shoulders above the rest when it comes popularity is New York City born "Henry McCarty." What's that you say you never heard of him, well he also went by the alias of William H. Bonney, but if that still doesn't ring a bell try his more popular moniker "Billy the Kid." With his seemingly unending popularity in the eyes of the public (a recently found photo of Billy playing croquet might go for as much as five million dollars at auction) Billy's iconic photo taken of him displaying the tools of his trade wins the Number 8 title.
Our next winner deals with the ability of photos, films and videos to influence the mind of the voter and thereby the outcome of elections and government leadership. Following the American Civil War the use of photographs as a political tool to get yourself elected was explored with some marginal success, but in 1898 a bright young Assistant Secretary of the Navy name Theodore Roosevelt was able to utilize the new medium to its maximum advantage. TR as he liked to be called possessed tremendous political ambition and was absolutely obsessed with an adventure of any kind, so when war broke out between the United States and Spain in 1898 TR saw an unique opportunity to further both is obsessions. He resigned his post as Assistant Secretary and joined an all volunteer cavalry regiment dubbed "The Rough Riders" with great expectations of gaining fame, glory and political advancement. Roosevelt was a born patriot at heart and believed the United States had a manifest destiny to fulfill by taking a leadership role in world affairs. The Spanish-American War provided him the very opportunity that he had hoped for. During what would later become known as "The Battle of San Juan Hill" TR led his Rough Riders along with the all black 9th infantry up Kettle and San Juan hills with a determined heroic charge that would prove to be the defining moment in Roosevelt's life. After the battle the Rough Riders posed for a photograph atop San Juan Hill. Roosevelt naturally was standing in their center of his regiment with the American flag flying over his head looking every bit the victorious hero. When this photo ran in the newspapers it made the name Roosevelt a household word and certainly helped TR to win the election for Governor of New York State when he returned from the war in 1898. There was a problem though, the state party leadership disliked and distrusted Roosevelt so they convinced the national party that TR would make a perfect Vice President and thereby remove him from the Governorship and placing him in the largely ineffectual role of Vice President. Roosevelt accepted offer and worked hard for McKinley's successful reelection bid in 1900. All this would seem to have worked out according to plan except McKinley managed to get himself assassinated in 1901 and upon his death the unwanted Governor of New York became the 26th President of the United States. That is why I have chosen Teddy Roosevelt posing with his troops on top of San Juan Hill Number 7 on my list of photos that change the world.
My Number 6 candidate is the first moving picture to get my vote as a world changer, and I know what you are going to say, I know, I know teacher! It's the 1894 Kinetoscope Edison Studio production of the Leonard - Cushing fight's where Leonard beats the tar out of Cushing in the final round, right? Well, that's a good guess but no, although you were close, I chose instead another Edison film, "The Great Train Robbery." Sometimes it's hard for us to envision Thomas Edison the prolific inventor as a movie mogul but in truth he was just that. After inventing the motion picture camera Edison moved onto producing his own short films and I'll bet you can't guess how many features Edison Studios produced, go ahead guess, okay so I'll tell you, 1200! Why that's more than the "Rocky" series of films, of course if Mr. Stallone lives long enough he might eclipse that mark. Still 1200 movies really does boggle the mind considering Edison had so many other things going on like inventing the stock ticker, light bulb, phonograph, carbon microphone, magnetic ore separator, and of course that little matter of trying to monopolize all the electrical power distribution for the entire world. But back to the "The Great Train Robbery", it was produced and directed by Edwin S. Porter who had worked for Edison Studios as a camera man and the film contains many of the production techniques that are still routinely used by modern film makers. As a matter of fact it has been chosen by the Library of Congress to be restored and made a part of the National Film Registry due to its being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important. And that my fellow film buffs is why "The Great Train Robbery" is my Number 6 selection because its influence on our lives is still being felt today.
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