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Matthew Brady's Photography During The Civil War

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Photography during the Civil War.
The Civil War was a bloody, well fought war that lasted 4 years between the Union (the Northern States) and the Confederacy (the Southern states.) This war would determine what type of nation it would become. Would the Union be split instead of preserved? Would the Union be free while the Confederate states had slaves? The bloody, gruesome war lasted four years and involved many men, women and children. Photographers captured the truth about the war. Matthew Brady, a famous photographer, took many photos that had a lasting impact on people’s perceptions of the war.. The photos of the Civil War affected the American people as a whole. The publication of Civil War battle photos affected the opinions of the …show more content…

Matthew Brady was born in Warren County, New York around the year 1823 . He was interested in photography and was introduced to the daguerreotype process ("Brady, Mathew B. (1823?–1896)"). Matthew Brady took portraits of many famous people including President Abraham Lincoln. After moving to New York, he began manufacturing cases for daguerreotypes, jewelry, and painted miniature portraits. Brady worked to build his skill and his reputation. In 1844 he opened his own art gallery in New York called “The Daguerreian Miniature Gallery ("Brady, Matthew B. (1823?–1896)" ). He also opened an art gallery in Washington D.C. The Civil War photos in the gallery showed some very realistic events that were …show more content…

Someone once said, “ Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness [sic] of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our dooryards and along streets, he has done something very like it," ("Matthew Brady Photographer."). The photos showed truth and reality about war. It took away any fantasies about it. Many people would go and see the art galleries. A reporter once said that as people looked at photos they would sometimes see their son, husband, wife or loved one dead in the battle field ("Matthew Brady Photographer"). Seeing a deceased loved one is difficult, but seeing their lifeless body in a picture is even harder. Having photos taken showed the people that the war needed to end and that no one else needed to

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