In the 1850's and 60's, there were few people who the camera loved more than John Wilkes Booth. And John Wilkes Booth loved the camera right back. He was frequently called "the most handsome man in America". Crowds of women swooned inside and out of theatres when he was scheduled to make an appearance, in what I like to describe as the "Elvis effect". Women wanted to be with him and men dreamed of being him. And why not? He had it all--fame and riches from a successful acting career, God-given talent, good looks and intelligence. That is, he had it all until he shot Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford's Theatre.
One interesting result from the dawn of this new technology of modern photography, now serves us as a literal glimpse into history. What a remarkable idea. Capturing an image, a likeness of reality, these things that remind us of where we have been, and produce a hope in us that it will help us have a glimpse into the future as well. It was inevitable that as soon as photography had been born, photo-editing immediately followed. The case in point being one of America's most photographed individuals: John Wilkes Booth, who exceeded the demands of his profession as an actor measured in the number of portraits he had made of himself. Below, is a copy of the original portrait taken of that famous man of the stage. What is fascinating is the way this photograph was altered, printed and distributed following the assassination of Lincoln.
Compare this with the two edited versions below, the first, a very subtle interpretation of evil, and the second, a much more in-your-face, blatant interpretation.
Plainly visible, but with gentle lines curving to the contours of Mr. Booth's person, he holds a derringer in his right hand and a dagger in his left, as it rests on his hip. Now compare that image with the more heavily edited image, with Lincoln and party in the background, and the Devil blowing sulphar and smoke in Booth's direction.
While these photographs exhibit a fine example of a historic figure and an exercise in First Amendment rights, they also reveal to us that Political Correctness is an old, old sport. We may think of ourselves as unique in having to deal with an overload of political correctness in our time, but these photographs prove that even in 1865, the spin doctors and the revisionist historians were already very busy, immediately following the Civil War.
