Civil War Photography

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the types of equipment used the Civil War period. The paper presents photographers: Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O'Sullivan, Andrew Joseph Russell and Jay Dearborn Edwards. The author pointed out that the study of their portraiture offers an in-depth look at the men and women who made a significant contribution to the development of the United States.

From the Paper:

"Although photography had existed for only two short decades when the War broke out, from the start, the pictures the early photographers created fascinated the public. Their images seemed, unlike drawings and paintings, to capture reality. When the war began, hundreds of photographers began to cover the conflict. In both their studios and in the field, they took numerous portraits of common soldiers and then sold them in a popular card-size format. The Civil War photographers traveled to Army field headquarters and returned with images of the war's heroes. When they went into the field to take their photographs, they carried not only a camera, but also a portable darkroom that was used for the delicate process of wet-plate photography."

More papers on Civil War Photography:

• Analytical Essay # 2219 : "Civil War through Photography and Journalism"
• Essay # 143721 : "Timothy O’Sullivan’s Harvest Of Death (1863)"
• Research Paper # 30018 : "Documentary Photography"

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