Mathew Brady

Today, we meet Mathew Brady. He was known as the brilliant leader of a project that for the first time showed the glories and horrors of the battlefield to those who were far front line. While he was rarely ever behind the camera himself, his team chronicled the Civil War in photographs.


War photography at that time was a far cry from the war photography that we know today. Due to long exposure times and complicated chemical processes, it was nearly impossible to shoot the battle in progress. Nearly all the images in Brady's archives are of the moments before or after the bullets were flying. There are pictures of forts, trenches, cannon and mortars, arsenals, and portrait after portrait of groups and individuals posing. Then, there are the shots of what remains when the battle ends. Haunting photographs of the bodies of Confederate and Union troops littering the battlefield; the bombed and shelled remains of buildings that once stood proud.


And on that note, I hope you have a very happy Sunday!