Taylor+Photography

toc **-Photography-**

=1. Photograph Influence= The Civil War was the first event in history that was documented by photography. This new type of documentation brought the horrific reality of the war into the homes of Americans. Since Americans knew more about the war now that they could see it, this allowed them to have their own personal opinions about the war. With individual American's personal opinion, new reaction to the war such as protests and fights. For the first time, Americans could see the war and they didn't always like what they saw. For the public eye to be able to see and know what was happening to their brothers or loved ones while they were in battle, they not only could stress about a family member or be satisfied because their favored side won a specific battle. They could take action and connect with one another with alike opinions. = =

=**2. Matthew Brady**= Matthew Brady was a Union photographer who opened his photography business in New York by opening galleries. At first he published cartes-de-visite which were small, pocket-sized photographs usually of celebrities, politicians or anyone of interest to the public. Brady then traveled to photograph the Civil War, where his photos became wildly popular. He took portraits of soldiers before battle so that the families could have a picture of their son in case he did not make it through the war. Brady's first event that made him particularly famous was the Bull-Run battle which took place on July 21, 1861. He then traveled back to Washington D.C. where he published the photos into a gallery and where his photos began to become popular. Many of the photos in his gallery began to appear in newspapers so that the public could see the recent news of the war. These photos showed the public what was happening with the war and also showed them the death and destruction going on while the war was taking place. Brady continued to take pictures of the armies anticipating the battles and their aftermath. He also took picture of challenges that the armies had to go through. Examples were crossing muddy rainy rivers or what the hospital beds looked like. By the end of the war, the public no longer wanted to see Brady's photos of the war. No one wanted to be reminded of the awful bloody war.

=3. Photographing Techniques= During the Civil War, each photographer had took different types of photographs, some photographed before battles and some took portraits of all the men and the war and sent them home. Newly enlisted soldiers were photographed and their pictures were sent to families. These pictures were cartes-de-visite which were small 2- by 4-inch pocket size pictures. Photographers also traveled to battle sites to photograph the fighting and other events. Most photographers (especially Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardener) took photos of the armies anticipating battle, and the destruction and aftermath of the war. Most photographs were not taken during the actual battle because it was so hard to see through the smoke. Also, camera technology was new, the equipment was fragile and the photographs required processing right away. Many famous newspaper photos of the war were staged. Photographers moved the bodies of dead soldiers and photographed them in different places. A famous example is the photograph named “Home of the Rebel Sharp Shooter”. The most popular genre of photographs that the American public saw were "field photos", which were any photo that was taken outdoors during the war. Americans used the photos to learn about the war. Books of war photographs were published and many galleries were set up in New York and Washington D.C..



=4. Photo Development= = = During the Civil War, photographers spent hours in darkrooms using a complicated wet-plate developing process. The darkrooms were cramped wagons that were dragged along with the heavy equipment to the battlefield. The photographers of the Civil War used the Wet-Plate developing process to develop their photos. Glass plates were coated with a chemical mixture named Collodion, which had to be hand mixed. Collodion was composed of very dangerous chemicals and acids. The darkroom was used to immerse the plates in silver nitrate and then the plates were placed in a light-tight container and developed in a solution of pyrogallic acid. A mixture of sodium thiosulfate was then coated onto the plates so that the images would not fade. Finally, the plate was coated with varnish, which protected the surface. The image was now fully visible and could be printed onto paper and mounted. The process was very complicated, dangerous and difficult especially in the cramped wagons in the battle field.

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=5. Alexander Gardener= Alexander Gardener was a Scottish and American photographer, who was born in Scotland in 1821. He became a well-known Union photographer specifically for his works of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the conspirators of Lincoln's assignation. Gardener worked for Matthew Brady from 1856 to 1862. Brady often took credit for pictures that Gardener had taken. This finally lead him to ending their partnership of work. In 1866 Gardner published a popular book of his war photographs, named __Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War__. A century after the war, Frederic Ray (art director of Civil War Times) noticed that [|two separate photos] of two separate places featured the same body. One of the identified photos was Gardener's most famous photos, “Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter” was now being accused of fabrication. It was later discovered that two of Gardener's fellow photographers dragged the body 40 yards into the surroundings of Devil’s Den, and that in fact the photograph had been staged. = = = =

=**6. Timothy O'Sullivan**=

[|Timothy O'Sullivan] was born in New York City in 1840. As a teenager, O'Sullivan worked for Matthew Brady. When the war was just beginning O'Sullivan was a first lieutenant, and he fought in the battles of Beaufort, Port Royal, Fort Walker and Fort Pulaski. Following his honorable discharge he began to work for Matthew Brady as a photographer. In July of 1862, O’Sullivan photographed John Pope’s invasion of Virginia. In July of 1863, he took a graphic photo known as [|“The Harvest of Death”]. This photograph dispelled the publics idea of heroic deaths and battlefield honor. O’Sullivan then accepted a job with the United States Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian. In this job he was required to photograph the West in order to attract settlers and tourists. His pictures were one of the first to record prehistoric ruins (weavers and villages of the Southwest). He then returned to Washington D.C. as an official photographer for the Geological Survey and died in 1882, passing away at the age of 42.

=**Timeline**=

=Video= PBS video on photography

**Bibliography section**

 "Photography and the Civil War." //Civil War Preservation Trust: Saving America's Civil War Battlefields // . Civil War Preservation Trust. Web. 04 May 2010. .

"Photojournalism: a Record of War." //American Memory from the Library of Congress - Home Page // . Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .

Dresser, Rebecca. "Brady, Mathew." In Waugh, Joan, and Gary B. Nash, eds. //Encyclopedia of American History: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1856 to 1869 // , vol. 5. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. //American History Online // . Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHV032&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 5, 2010).

Ambitious, Brady Was. "Facts On File: American History Online." //<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">Facts On File Online Databases // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. <http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=Photo1&DataType=AmericanHistory&WinType=Free>.

"Civil War Photos." <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">National Archives and Records Administration // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/>.

"File:Confederate Dead at Devil's Den Gettysburg.jpg." <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">. Web. 4 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Confederate_Dead_at_Devil%27s_Den_Gettysburg.jpg>.

Kinsel, Amy J. "Civil War photography." In Waugh, Joan, and Gary B. Nash, eds. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">Encyclopedia of American History: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1856 to 1869 // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">, vol. 5. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">American History Online // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHV228&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 5, 2010).

"War Photography." <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia // <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">. Web. 09 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_photography>.

"Timothy H. O'Sullivan." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_H._O%27Sullivan>. =Picture Credits=

http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-046.jpg <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;"> Unknown. //Matthew Brady//. 1862. Photograph. <http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/lens2382041_1232162067Matthew_Brady_circa_1875smaller.jpg> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;"> Gardener, Alexander. //Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter//. 1863. Photograph. Battle of Gettysburg. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Confederate_Dead_at_Devil%27s_Den_Gettysburg.jpg> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;"> Adelman, Gary. //Wet-collodion Process//. Photograph. Center for Civil War Photography. <http://www.civilwar.org/photos/3d-photography-special/photography-and-the-civil-war.html>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Gardener, Alexander. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">. Photograph. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwpcam/cwcam3c.html>