Modern day inaugural photos may contain information about the lack of attendants to the ritual, but the most interesting picture taken from this ceremony was created in 1857. The first photograph of any Presidential inauguration was taken by John Wood, an architectural photographer who worked for contractor Montgomery C. Meigs. This article explains the significance of this piece of history by divulging into the process it took to create the remarkable picture. The author notes that this time period produced much growth when it came to photography, especially with the invention of the wet collodion process. Now, photographers would be able to make prints from a glass negative, but of course it came along with a few setbacks. Photographers needed to have access to a portable darkroom and be able to wait a decent amount of time for works that needed longer exposures. Despite these few hindrances, photographers had the ability to capture historical events as they were truly happening. John Wood was hired to photograph the construction of the Capitol Building so they could be duplicated and distributed. When Wood’s boss was hired to build the inauguration platform, he would also move up the ladder and be asked to take pictures that documented president James Buchanan being sworn into office (March 4, 1857). Later, John Woods became a civil war photographer and ended up working for Union Gen. George McClellan. This picture makes not only the viewer question the technique woods used to develop such a momentous picture, but displays a historic moment as well as being unforgettable itself.
By K. Juszkiewicz