Photobomb!
One of the funniest photos I’ve seen from the Civil War probably wasn’t intended to be all that funny. I came across it again the other day as I was doing some work related to Gaines’s Mill, and I thought I’d share it with you. My friend Garry Adelman first showed this to me, so I want to tip my hat to him here in acknowledgement.
The photo, taken by James Gibson shows Comte de Paris, Duc de Chartres, Prince de Joinville, and friends seated around a makeshift table supported by logs. They’re at Camp Winfield Scott, near Yorktown, on May 1, 1862.
Unless you’re amused by French names, the image itself doesn’t seem all that funny. But look closer. Here’s a hint:
Yes, there is some dude hiding in the shrubs in the background, peeking out.
The glass-plate negative used to make the photo offers an incredibly high resolution, which allows us to find details like this hidden in the backgrounds of Civil War-era images. Garry likes to show the wrinkles on the knuckles of soldiers posing in pictures as a way to illustrate the sharpness of that resolution—something even the best digital cameras today can’t quite achieve.
That high resolution let’s the Library of Congress, for instance, have super-high-res files available for study. You can download a copy of this one here.
Looks a little like J.E.B. Stuart. Maybe doing some close-up recon?
This is a great one. When my Dad was in the Navy he got a photograph of Jesus – before he grew his beard. Jes sayin’…
There is someone sitting on the left but fades away like a ghost.
There certainly is. His legs and boots are visible. Good catch!
Alan Pinkerton scouting Confederate positions !!
Who will then report to McClellan that he spotted another 10,000 CSA reinforcements.
Isn’t that a bottle of Chateau Reynella Cabernet Sauvignon 1858 at the far end of the table, with the label facing the Camera… a South Australia wine that somehow earned pride of place among a party of Frenchmen?
I love the photo-bombing exploits! I had never noticed him before as he almost blends in with the tree in which he is peeking out from! Thanks for sharing!
Possibly a musician, looks like the bell of a french horn about 45 degrees angularly to the lower left away from his face. Looks like a smile in his eye. Nice find.