Mathew Brady's studios produced stellar portraits of both notable and little-known Americans. during the civil War, with failing eyesight, Brady directed a corps of skilled photographers to cover events in the field. He financed their work and published it under his name. Brady's business declined into bankruptcy after the war when public interest in wartime images diminished.
Reproduction from original glass negative. Prints and Photograhs Division, Library of Congress
Photograph, portrait of Mathew Brady, ca. 1875
Photographing the Civil War
Mathew Brady’s Civil War photographs at the Library of Congress constitute one of the most significant historical resources of the period. Brady, a New York portrait photographer, opened a studio in Washington, D.C., in 1858. Throughout the war, Brady’s staff photographed soldiers, battlefields, and related incidents on glass-plate negatives. The images, sold as prints, reproduced in books, and converted to illustrations for newspapers, were the first to document an American war. Congress acquired the collection between 1875 and 1954 to preserve this visual history for future generations.
Mathew Brady's studios produced stellar portraits of both notable and little-known Americans. during the civil War, with failing eyesight, Brady directed a corps of skilled photographers to cover events in the field. He financed their work and published it under his name. Brady's business declined into bankruptcy after the war when public interest in wartime images diminished.
Reproduction from original glass negative. Prints and Photograhs Division, Library of Congress
