1940s automobile wreck
Toronto. In the beginning, photography recorded mostly portraits and landscapes. Workplace and workers came along later – perhaps the best known are the dead combatants in the American civil war photos taken by Matthew Brady. Newspapers and books benefitted from the art as photography slowly replaced the line drawings (first as references, then as half tones).
Photography became a record keeper for wars, government, retail firms, police (crime scenes, criminals), real estate sales (I have a Leica engraved on the base with the name and address of a local realtor firm), insurance claims, etc.
The picture taken here of a 1940s automobile was recorded by my father with a Kodak folder on the rather grainy film of the day in glorious black and white. The detail was enough to be an inventory of a wrecked vehicle or even proof for an insurance claim.
