Image (c) Ed Drew Photography, see original
There’s something amazingly powerful about war photography. War is the rawest of times for the human psyche. In less complicated times, we become more complicated, with more layers hiding what’s inside from what we can see. In war, that’s gone. We’re scraped thin, and you can see everything. The challenge of capturing that naked human spirit has attracted hordes of photographers, but none that I have found have captured this so eloquently as Ed Drew.
Ed Drew, rather SSG Drew, served his time downrange as a door gunner on attack helicopters. He’s also an avid photographer, and his work has been showcased around the Army and around the world {for good reason}, but it’s amazing how he was able to use his skills to capture the faces of his compatriots during deployment. It’s especially amazing when you consider that he captured these stunning portraits using true tintype processing.
Image (c) Ed Drew Photography, see original
Image (c) Ed Drew Photography, see original
Tintype processing was first patented in 1856 – also called ferrotype. Why is this process named after metals? Because it creates a direct image {hence why everything looks backward in the photos} on a piece of metal. The exposure process changes the chemical composition of an iron plate, printing the image, but the image is not directly visible until it’s either painted or laquered, and then coated with an emulsion to set it. All of the images you see above were created with this process, just as Civil War photographs were created.
So not only was SSG Drew able to create exceptional portraits, he did it in the manner of the first known war photography. He even had a chance to capture the image of the great-great-grandson of Buffalo Bill, whom he served with, in the same manner in which Buffalo Bill’s portrait was taken. If that isn’t a wonderful piece of family history to capture, I don’t know what is.
If you want to see the faces of war in a truly exceptional way, visit Ed Drew’s site. You will be as amazed and awed by his work and his service. I wish SSG Drew the best of luck in his photography business and his future endeavors.
