Benutzer:MYR67/Artikelwerkstatt Charles J. Betts

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Charles J. Betts (oder Charles S. Betts??) (geb. ca. 1820, gest. ?) war einer der ersten nordamerikanischen Fotografen (Daguerreotypist). Er folgte der US-amerikanischen Armee im mexikanisch-amerikanischen Krieg von 1846/47 und wird als einer der ersten Kriegsfotografen überhaupt angesehen. Die erste Fotografie von einer Amputation eines Kriegsverletzten wird Betts zugeschrieben.

Lebensweg[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

Über das Leben von Charles Betts ist wenig bekannt. Er kam aus den USA, wahrscheinlich aus New York City. Gesichert ist, dass er sein Daguerreotypisten-Gewerbe ab September 1846 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexiko, ausübte, dass er also bereits etwa fünf Monate nach Ausbruch des mexikanisch-amerikanischen Kriegs (am 25. April 1846) ein Studio in Mexiko betrieb. Anfang April 1847 eröffnete Betts ein Atelier in Veracruz.

  • Active: Matamoros, Mexico, 1846; Veracruz, Mexico, 1847; Jalapa, Mexico, 1847; Puebla, Mexico, 1847; Mexico City, 1847
  • 21. September 1846: Charles S. Betts, one of several American daguerrians who ventured to Mexico during the Mexican-American War (1846–48), first made his appearance in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on September 21, 1846
  • 1846: Charles J. Betts is known to have been in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in 1846 accompanying the American troops under Taylor.
  • April 1847: Charles S. Betts opened a studio in Veracruz in early April 1847 and accompagnied Winfield Scott's troops from Jalapa to Puebla and, later, to Mexico City. Betts worked in Puebla in July of that year in partnership with the self-taught dentist and daguerreotypist J. C. Gardiner. The partnership did not work out and, days after the fall of Mexico City, Charles S. Betts (now working with a Mexican, Antonio L. Cosmes de Cosió) set up business on the second floor of a building on the corner of Plateros and Refugio. There he had a large canvas painted with a view of Chapultepec Castle that served as a backdrop used by officers who wanted to have their portraits made against the symbol of the fallen city.5
  • Antonio Cosmes De Cossío was one of a number of daguerreotypists active in Mexico during the Mexican War (1846–1848), and is considered to be the first native Mexican to have practiced the trade. Cosmes was initially associated with the American C. S. Betts [vielleicht: Charles J. Betts?] who had a studio in Mexico City. In January 1848 Cosmes announced his break from Betts and the opening of his own studio at calle San José Real #5, and advertised his specialties as a miniaturist and colorist.
  • Betts visited the homes of American soldiers on request 'to take miniatures of the dead and wounded'.

Rostoffe, Quellen, Zettelkasten[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

„Charles J. Betts is known to have been in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in 1846 accompanying the American troops under Taylor.“[1]

„In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, daguerreotypist Charles J. Betts follows the American Army to Veracruz, Mexico, and, according to an advertisement, offers to photograph "the dead and wounded." Dozens of anonymous daguerreotypes are also taken of troop movements and American officers.“[2]

Most of the other American daguerrotypists [other than Halsey] seeking to capitalize on the war had briefer careers. J.R. Palmer, from New Orleans, opened a daguerreotype portrait studio in Matamoros in June 1846, but by October had abandoned the studio to become a staff writer and later co-editor for the local paper, the American Flag.18 Charles Betts moved in to fill the void Palmer had left in Matamoros by September 1846 but, instead of trying to build up a long-term local business, decided to follow the American army of the southern campaign. By April 1847, Betts was with the American Army in Veracruz, where for "two weeks only" he was prepared to take portraits and, on request, would "got to residences to take miniatures of the dead and wounded." In July, he followed General Scott's army from Jalapa to Puebla, and by September was in Mexico City, with Scott and his occupying troops. There he advertised his portrait services to "the citizens of this city, as well as the officers etc. of the U.S. Army," offering to let his clients pose in front of a large painted backdrop of Chapultepec.19 Betts, too, focused on the audience he had at hand, making portraits or postmortem views only when paid in advance, giving little thought to the more speculative sorts of images he might make to market to more distant buyers. Other itinerant photographers, including L.H. Polock and J.C. Gardiner, likeweise geared their short-lived business to commissioned portraits.20

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Betts, Charles S. Daguerreotypist; active Matamoros, Mexico, 1846; Veracruz, Mexico, 1847; Jalapa, Mexico, 1847; Puebla, Mexico, 1847; Mexico City, 1847. Charles S. Betts, one of several American daguerrians who ventured to Mexico during the Mexican-American War (1846–48), first made his appearance in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on September 21, 1846. A notice in that date's Matamoros American Flag declared that he was in town but was prepearing to proceed inland to Monterrey.

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Charles J. Betts

Leg amputation of Sargent Antonio Bustos by Dr Pedro Vander Linden during the Battle of Cerro Gordo (Mexico, 1847). This is considered the first image of an amputation in a battlefield. Daguerreotype attributed to Charles J Betts. (Reprinted from: the National Photographic Archives of Mexico [Fototeca del INAH], with permission.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262527061_The_Chest_Wound_of_General_Shields_in_the_Battle_of_Cerro_Gordo_April_18_1847#pf4

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262527061_The_Chest_Wound_of_General_Shields_in_the_Battle_of_Cerro_Gordo_April_18_1847#pf4

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Leg-amputation-of-Sargent-Antonio-Bustos-by-Dr-Pedro-Vander-Linden-during-the-Battle-of_fig2_262527061

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„“

Charles J. Betts. Born: 1820. 1847: follows the American Army to Veracruz, Mexico. Posted in 1846 - 48 Mexican - American War.

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Charles J. Betts

One of the earliest known soldier-photographers was Charles J. Betts, who during the Mexican-American War (1846–7) visited the homes of American soldiers on request 'to take miniatures of the dead and wounded'.8

Janina Struk, „Private Pictures: Soldiers' Inside View of War“, Routledge, 14.09.2020, 230 Seiten https://books.google.de/books?id=_kUHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT38&lpg=PT38 „Private Pictures: Soldiers' Inside View of War“ von Janina Struk, S. 38, Routledge, 14.09.2020 - 230 Seiten https://books.google.de/books?id=_kUHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT38&lpg=PT38&dq=%22Charles+J+Betts%22+Photographer&source=bl&ots=81ckATAxqv&sig=ACfU3U2VqDcs_iPKDLtxngzEjU66mVd9zA&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjextOFvtz1AhVKR_EDHbkBBY4Q6AF6BAgbEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Charles%20J%20Betts%22%20Photographer&f=false

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Nineteenth Century War Photography The earliest known war photographs were taken in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. Charles J. Betts, a daguerreotypist with the American army in Veracruz, advertised that he would visit homes for two weeks to photograph the dead and wounded. The 60 surviving photographs from the war picture people, buildings, and troop movements. No images of battle remain.

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The first photographs of war were taken by American daguerreotypist Charles J Betts, who advertised in 1847 that he would visit homes to “take pictures of the dead and wounded” during the Mexican-American war of 1846-48, in a decidedly entrepreneurial gesture.

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The Daguerreotype is an integral part of modern history as artifact and witness to great events and forms the basis on which the first surgical photograph of an amputation was taken in North America, during the Mexican-American War between 1846 and 1847; however, its photographer remains unknown. [...]

By the end of 1846 Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Saltillo, Coahuila and Tampico, Tamaulipas, were in the hands of American troops. Mexican troops at Saltillo were ordered (by error) to retreat after the second day of battle at Buena Vista Valley (west of Saltillo), granting Taylor's troops victory. This battle was documented by a Daguerreotypist who did not sign the four plates taken. The photos show the entrance to Saltillo and environs by American troops. There also is one which shows a group of Mexican soldiers gathered around a fellow soldier from whom his right leg has just been amputated. His face is disfigured by pain while being held by two of his comrades. An American or perhaps Mexican officer can be seen bending down dressing the wound. Behind him there is a saw with which the operation was performed. Aside the instrument, a corpulent soldier takes the amputated leg in his hands (Fig. 1). Six other plates show scenes of the invasion, scenes of Lieutenant Doubleday and Mexican troops, the Virginia Regiment on the southern Camino Real (some place between El Paso and Mexico City), General John E. Wool, Wool's general staff (Fig. 2), Webster's Battery, and the Minon Mountains near Buena Vista, Coahuila. These photos taken during the Mexican-American War are the first ones taken of war in the history of photography. Those taken by Fenton during the Crimea War were nine years later. The photo of the surgical amputation was very likely taken late 1846 or early 1847. But by whom?

We know the following: D.W. Seager had knowledge, according to Samuel Morse, of Daguerreotype techniques and was reported to have been in Mexico during the Mexican-American War years. An American photographer, A.H. Hasley, had traveled throughout the Mexican Republic in the 1840s. R.W. Holt, perhaps an American, lived in the Mexican Republic between 1842 and 1848. And finally, Charles J. Betts is known to have been in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in 1846 accompanying the American troops under Taylor.

Feliciano Blanco-Dávila, M.D., „Homage to an Unknown Photographer“, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, in: Aesth . Plast. Surg. 17:351-353, 1993, https://ur.booksc.me/dl/6019506/3ae784

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COSMES DE COSSÍO, ANTONIO L. (b. 1820s) Antonio was the son of Antonio Cosmes, a Spanish officer, and Guadalupe de Cossío, his well-connected Mexican wife, was one of a number of daguerreotypists active in Mexico during the Mexican War (1846–1848), and is considered to be the first native Mexican to have practiced the trade. Cosmes was initially associated with the American C.S. Betts who had a studio in Mexico City. In January 1848 Cosmes announced his break from Betts and the opening of his own studio at calle San José Real #5, and advertised his specialties as a miniaturist and colorist.

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It is reasonable to believe that this image was taken in Cerro Gordo on April 18, 1847. But what daguerreotypist was wandering around – with his heavy equipment and delicate creations – in the rearguard of the Mexican army? The only daguerreotypist known to have been in the war zone were the professionals who followed the U.S. troops. After his face-off with the enemy rifles, Vander Linden provided medical aid to several North American soldiers, and perhaps they sought to repay him by commissioning this image as a trophy of war. It is reasonable to assume that the photographer was Charles S. Betts, who opened a studio in Veracruz in early April 1847 and accompagnied Winfield Scott's troops from Jalapa to Puebla and, later, to Mexico City. Betts worked in Puebla in July of that year in partnership with the self-taught dentist and daguerreotypist J. C. Gardiner. The partnership did not work out and, days after the fall of Mexico City, Charles S. Betts (now working with a Mexican, Antonio L. Cosmes de Cosió) set up business on the second floor of a building on the corner of Plateros and Refugio. There he had a large canvas painted with a view of Chapultepec Castle that served as a backdrop used by officers who wanted to have their portraits made against the symbol of the fallen city.5

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Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A ... von Peter E. Palmquist, Thomas R. Kailbourn https://books.google.de/books?id=UNipzykMBEIC&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298&dq=%22Andrew+J.+Halsey%22+Photo*&source=bl&ots=UYMPF8xCpF&sig=ACfU3U0_Xwr0GoTUaf62dwsrJ4O70nBbLA&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAoZiYj9_1AhWVQvEDHfb_DaEQ6AF6BAgbEAM#v=onepage&q=Betts&f=false

Weblinks etc.[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

Literatur und Quellen[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

  • Stewart, Rick; Huseman, Ben W.; Sandweiss, Martha A., „Eyewitness to War: Prints & Daguerreotypes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848“, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art; Verlag: Smithsonian, 1989, ISBN 10: 0874748623, ISBN 13: 9780874748628

Einzelnachweise[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

  1. ↑ Feliciano Blanco-Dávila, M.D. „Homage to an Unknown Photographer“ Monterrey, Nuevo León, México Aesth . Plast. Surg. 17:351-353, S. 352, 1993 https://ur.booksc.me/dl/6019506/3ae784
  2. ↑ The history of photography, By xx_j4ivi3s_xx, Jul 20, 1847: First Photos of War, Timeline, https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/35712
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