Why was Mary Surratt not photographed after her arrest?

[barryssentials]

Hi all: This has been a good week for questions. One observation I’d like to address is that several people have asked why photos weren't taken at the trial or of Mary Surratt as the public would have been very interested in them. Great questions!
Photography, in historical hindsight, was not the wonderful 'media' tool that it is today. In 1865, photography was in its infancy and regrettably could not be reproduced in printed newspapers. The technology wouldn't exist to do this until the 1880s. So until then, any photos that were created in the 1860s were reproduced by means of photographic cards (such as carte-de-vis or stereoscopic prints). These photographic cards would have taken a very long time to find their way into wide circulation amongst the public. By then, interest in the subject would have waned. So for the sake of immediate public gratification, visual images in newspapers were produced using illustrated woodcuts and not photographs.
Regarding the question as to why photographs were not taken at the trial, a number of reasons can be theorized. My first thought is always that 'perhaps there WERE photos taken at the trial' but may have been lost, destroyed or hidden away in some attic to be discovered fifty years from now. It's not a fact but can be considered a plausible theory.
The other side of the coin is that there were NO PHOTOS TAKEN at the trial. Despite many security gaffs that seemed to have occurred throughout the incarceration, trial and punishments of the prisoners, there were still official restrictions issued by the military to help negate these. For instance, at the trial artists were officially restricted from sketching inside the courtroom and Gen. Hartranft noted that he confiscated drawings in progress that he caught illustrators working on. Since this restriction was in place, it is likely that no cameras were allowed as well (I've personally not read any transcripts that state such official restrictions were implemented but I assume they must have been in place if sketching was not permitted).
It's all theory of course, but hopefully it gives good food for thought.
Have a great day.
Best
Barry