An artillery piece stands watch over Hazel Grove on the Chancellorsville battlefield. Photos by STEPHEN THOMPSON View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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Teen's photo exhibit will benefit battlefields

Weekend photography exhibition to benefit Civil War battlefield preservation.

Date published: 9/10/2005

By LEE WOOLF

WHAT KIND of project can you expect from a talented teen photographer and a father who is a serious student of the Civil War?

The display will consist of about 20 photographs from four local Civil War battlefields--Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. Copies of all of the photos will be available for purchase; half the proceeds will go to the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust for its preservation efforts.

Thompson, a rising senior at Osbourn High School in Manassas, said he got the idea for the exhibition from his father, Marc.

"This is really my dad's brainchild," said the younger Thompson. "When he saw some of my photos for a school project, he said, 'These are really, really good.' That's how the idea started. He suggested a public show, and I'm always willing to help the preservation cause if I can."

Marc Thompson is a retired Air Force colonel who volunteers at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and frequently leads groups touring the region's battlefields. He also serves on the executive board of the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table.

"My dad knows where everything happened on the battlefields," said Stephen Thompson. "But he left all the photography decisions up to me."

Asked if he has a favorite photo, Stephen described a shot from the Chancellorsville battlefield in western Spotsylvania County.

"I like to take pictures of reflective surfaces--like a puddle of water--and focus on what is being reflected," he said.

"And there was a swampy area near Chancellorsville that had that mirrored effect on some trees. I know that one will be in the show, for sure."

Thompson said he has been interested in photography since the seventh grade and has actively pursued the hobby for two years.

"I enjoy music and art," he said. "I guess I'm just a creative person."

Thompson said that among the four local battlefields, Chancellorsville is probably his favorite because he is most knowledgeable about that 1863 conflict.

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Date published: 9/10/2005