This week’s Radiolab features Errol Morris discussing Roger Fenton’s recognized picture, “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Turns out, the photo is staged.
“Fenton made two exposures from the same tripod position: in the first version of the celebrated photo he was to call “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”, the cannonballs are thick on the ground to the left of the road, but before taking the second picture – the one that is always reproduced – he oversaw the scattering of the cannonballs on the road itself.”
The Radiolab interview just begins to scratch the surface of Morris’ deep dive to get at the truth behind the picture. Even more fascinating is his “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?” series: part one, two, and three.
