Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
The Civil War was the first American conflict to be recorded photographically. Back then, photographers used a technique called tintype to create an image on a chemically treated sheet of metal.
Sgt. Ed Drew, an aerial gunner with the California National Guard, and a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, is bringing the old-fashioned technique back on the modern-day front lines.
Using an antique tintype camera on his recent tour in Afghanistan, Sgt. Drew photographed the soldiers in his air combat unit. The result is a unique and intimate look at men and women in combat.
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
"It was, from the start, letting people know who people in war are," Drew told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman. "These are combat rescue people, and here we are. We are the guys who fly into dangerous locations to save people's lives."
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Drew's tintypes were constant challenges, Strassman reported. It was difficult to manage the chemicals, and the long exposure required soldiers to pose motionless for up to ten seconds. Afghanistan added the additional challenges of dust, wind and combat.
"Suddenly you'd hear on the radio, 'Attention on the net, scramble scramble scramble,'" Drew said. "I'd have guys posed and it took me ten minutes to pose and focus them, and suddenly I gotta go."
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Drew said he hoped the tintypes would bring humanity to the conflict in Afghanistan. "They're in war," Drew told Strassman. "And some of them are scared, and some of them are not. But they're still people. People who are your neighbors, your friends, who know you. And I wanted that humanity, that human side, to come out in these photos."
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
"There was one aspect in particular I really wanted," Drew said, "and that was for them to kind of bare their soul into the camera."
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/ courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
Ed Drew/courtesy of the Robert Koch gallery
Sgt. Ed Drew photographed his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan using an old-fashioned tintype camera.
