Stoycheva, Anna

HTY 307
Prof. Castagneto
War through a camera lens: Photography during the Civil War
There are a lot of events that shape the destiny of each country, that change the nation
and give direction to the life of every human being that walks across its land but the most
crucial and life changing ones are the wars that the country fights. And there is nothing more
devastating and dangerous than a war between a countrys own men such as the Civil War in
America. The Civil War is one of the most if not the most important event in the history of
the United States. Very few things changed the country like the Civil War. And when we look
back on history, and what its taught us, its not too hard to see that it looks like everything in
American history leading up to the war was a cause of it, and everything that happened ever
since was caused by it. Every single fraction of the American society was deeply changed
politically, governmentally, culturally every aspect we look at was shaken by the war, in
which brothers fought brothers.
In my paper, I will look at photographs from the Civil War and America, specifically
ones from Gettysburg, and try to depict how different photographers saw the war from their
lenses. I will also try to include a little bit of backstory to each photographer, as I believe that a
persons own story is crucial to the art they produce and portray. The paper will be divided in
sections, so that it is easier to understand and follow through.
Photography in the Civil War
While the American Civil War is not the first one to be portrayed (it is, in fact, the fifth),
it is still considered to be the first major conflict to be extensively photographed. Photographers
were not scared to run on the battlefields and take pictures of the action as it happens, so that
the people on the home front could see what is actually happening in the war. The images that
photographers took were later displayed nationwide for everyone to be able to get a taste of
what the battlefields looked and felt like. However, the photographers who ventured on to the
battlefields did not have an easy time photography during the time was a very difficult and
time consuming process. Unlike today, where everything happens and is forever digitally stored
in an instant, back the technology was far more complex. The photographers had to carry all of
their heavy equipment in wagons, including their darkrooms, and all of the chemicals that they
had to mix by hand. In addition, they also had to process their images in the same cramped
wagons, full of all kinds of thigs, in shady or no proper lighting its incredible that we have
so many amazing pictures to look at from that era, considering the difficult conditions in which
they were taken and developed.
While photography of the 1860's would seem primitive by the technological standards
of today, many of the famous Civil War photographers of the day were producing sophisticated
three-dimensional images or "stereo views." These stereo view images proved to be extremely
popular among Americans and a highly effective medium for displaying life-like images. To
create a stereo view image a twin-lens camera was used to capture the same image from two
separate lenses, in much the same way that two human eyes capture the same image from
slightly different angles on the head. The images were developed using the same wet-plate
process, but stereoscopic photography produced two of the same image on one plate glass.1 As
steroviewers were very popular and easy to get a hold on at the time, these images were widely
distributed.

Mathew Brady
When talking about Civil War photography, Mathew Brady is the first photographer that
comes in mind, as his work is very closely related with the war. In the beginning of the war he
was primarily focused on capturing the portraits of young soldiers that went to war, so that their
parents have a little something to remember them by, in case they died in service. It wasnt
long, however, until he realized he wants to do more and decided to document the war itself.
He was given permission by president Lincoln to travel and soon after he found himself on the
battlefield. While, of course, him and other photographers were primarily taking photos after
the fire had ceased, he occasionally found himself on the battlefield and under direct fire. Brady
employed many photographers, among which Alexander Gardner and Timothy OSullivan,
whom I will later mention in my research, to help him photograph different scenes of the Civil
War. Since he was wealthy enough, he provided each of them with their own travelling
darkroom and sent them out on the battlefield. 2
It is a very popular opinion, that many of the photographs that are recorded as being
Bradys work, are actually the work of his assistants, and Brady is just the mastermind who
directed the shot he picked the scenes, he placed the photographer, but it was not him, who
actually snapped the shutter. History remains silent about how much of this is actually true, but
the work we have that is left under Bradys name talks enough about his incredible vision over
sceneries and his great eye for amazing shots. His work includes many shots of different
generals before and after battles he cleverly remembered to portray what would later be known
as the masterminds behind the winning strategies and operations of the North. He has also given
us a great number of photos that show us what the battlefield looks like before a battle the
preparations, the building of forts, the positioning of the guns, the scared faces of soldiers, ready
to take on their destiny and protect their land. A vivid picture in my mind is his photographs of
Richmond, VA after the evacuation, and after the battles the city looks empty, more like a
ghost town, half in ruins, yet half of it still standing. The most memorable of his photos,
however, are the ones taken after the battles they honestly and bluntly portray the harsh reality
of the war the dead bodies spread across the empty fields, soldiers both young and old, who
lost their lives fighting against their brothers. Just a glance at these photos and one gets a pretty
clear idea of what it feels like on that battlefield, how terrifying and brutal it is and how much
pain the country has gone through because of that war.
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner was one of the photographers that was part of Bradys group of
people photographing the Civil War. Gardner had been working for Brady before that and was
in charge of his Washington D.C. gallery. However, his work relationship with Brady during

(n.d.). Retrieved April, 2016, from http://www.civilwar.org/photos/3d-photography-special/photography-and-

the-civil-war.html?referrer=https://www.google.bg/
2
"Mathew Brady." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web.
the war didnt last for too long, because of Bradys practice of signing his own name under
photographs taken by his employees. Gardner followed numerous generals during their battles,
managing to capture two of the most important ones the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege
of Petersburg. After the War, he published a book, called Gardners Photographic Sketch Book
of the Civil War, which however was not very successful. Gardner also photographed President
Abraham Lincoln on many occasions, including documenting his funeral. He was the only
photographer that was allowed to attend the execution of the conspirators of Lincolns
assassination. 3
One of the most-famous photographs, taken by Alexander Gardner is Home of a Rebel
Sharpshooter, photographed after the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863. The photograph
portrays a lonely rebel soldier, lying on the ground between two huge rocks, his musket right
next to him. By the looks of it, the sharpshooter had been mortally wounded and had laid down
to patiently await death. On the photograph he looks peaceful, as if hes just sleeping, which is
another indicator that he was most probably not killed in an instant, but was just wounded. To
me, this photo represents the lonely side of the war; all soldiers are equal when they leave for
war, but out there it is every man for himself, survival of the fittest, in a way. The soldier
represented on the photograph is an example of the solitude of the war, and of the sacrifice that
soldiers make, when they leave they know the chances of meeting their death on the battlefield
is very high, but they have no other choice, so they hope for the best, and, in the case of the
soldier portrayed, all they have left is to wait. In Gardners book, the following description can
be found alongside the photo: None of those who went up and down the fields to bury the
fallen, had found him. Missing, was all that could have been known of him at home, and
some mother may yet be patiently watching for the return of her boy, whose bones lie bleaching,
unrecognized and alone, between the rocks at Gettysburg.4
Timothy H. OSullivan
OSullivan is of Irish decent, but came to the United States when he was very young.
He was employed by Matthew Brady when he was a teenager. At the beginning of the Civil
War, he was commissioned in the Union Army, but there is no record of him actually fighting
in the war. He was honorably discharged and rejoined Bradys team to start photographing the
war. He joined the studio of Alexander Gardner, which earned him the privilege of having more
than 40 photographs published in Gardners book. Like Gardner, he followed different generals
during their battles, and he managed to capture the Battle of Gettysburg, where he took his most
famous photograph. His work later took him to the Appomattox Court House, the site of Robert
Lees surrender in 1865.5
Photographed in July 1863 at the fields of Gettysburg, A Harvest of Death is
OSullivans most prominent and influential photograph. You dont need to know much about
wars and what happens on the battlefield, because once you see this photograph its all there
and it looks horrific. An entire field of dead men, a true harvest of death. All around on the
field you can see guns, ammunition, all kinds of litter, even maybe personal belongings of the
dead soldiers all the memories they carried with them on that battlefield, away from home.

3
"Alexander Gardner (photographer)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web.
4
Caption taken from original text, Plate 41, Vol. I, Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War
(Washington: Philp & Solomons, 1865-66)
5
"Timothy H. O'Sullivan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
The bodies of the men are just lying on the field in all possible positions, none of them prepared
to die, yet all of them found their end. An interesting fact is that they are all not wearing shoes,
because they are taken away from the dead men and given to the soldiers, who are still fighting,
as there was a big scarcity for shoes at the time. Once again, I want to include a quote from
Gardners book, because I find it very powerful, and I think it describes the picture very well:
Such a picture conveys a useful moral: It shows the blank horror and reality of war, in
opposition to its pageantry. Here are the dreadful details! Let them aid in preventing such
another calamity falling upon the nation.6
Conclusion
A cataclysmic event, such as the Civil War in America, profoundly changes the way in
which the people within the country envision their own nation. For better or worse, the Civil
War helped Americans see their country no longer as separate states, but as one indivisible
nation. The photographs that are remaining from the period are a great way of capturing the
brutality and the destruction of that war, reminding of how merciless the war was, but also what
has become of the country ever since. All of the photographers that were involved in
documenting it have done a marvelous job, especially for the time, portraying every aspect of
the war. It is one thing to just hear stories about it, but when you see actual photos from that
period, unaltered and un-staged, you can really start to grasp how savaging such an event is for
one country and one nation.

6
Caption taken from original text, Plate 36, Vol. I, Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War
(Washington: Philp & Solomons, 1865-66)