LIFE
d e e p i n t h e art
Putting Words to Photographs Ambrotype Photography and Fort McKavett
by Tammie Virden
DON’T MISS Visit Menard menardchamber.com Fort McKavett State Historic Site
066 FM 864 Fort McKavett, TX 76841 (325) 396-2358
Cody Mobley, Collodion Artist facebook.com/ RubyAmbrotypes
Photos Courtesy Steven Lyons
W
hen you step onto the grounds of Fort McKavett, you are met with a sense of nostalgia. You can almost imagine soldiers marching, horses’ hooves thundering and the bustle of an 1850s Infantry fort. State Historic Site Manager Cody Mobley is doing his best to preserve that same nostalgia. Mobley began researching period type photography and seeking someone to document the fort using the process that would have been prevalent back in the 1850s. He ended up teaching himself the process of ambrotype wet plate photography. Documenting history has been a passion throughout his life. As a young boy growing up in Olfen, a small town in Runnels County, Mobley had one of the best influencers of all things historic. His Mamaw, Norma Jones Lee, along with his great Aunt Clara both assisted with the creation of the Wichita-Brazos Museum and Cultural Center in Benjamin.
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AUTHENTIC TEXAS
MENARD
FORTS TRAIL REGION