Essay: The Importance Of Photography During The Civil War

In Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War, the haunting image “Harvest of Death” catches one’s eye with the seemingly endless field of corpses. The jarring facial expression on the figure in the foreground draws one into the narrative of the piece. However, our initial understanding of the image’s narrative is limited to what we can see and what we know of the circumstances surrounding it. While we know it was taken during the American Civil War, by simply looking at the photograph, we cannot know who is depicted. In black and white, it is difficult to even tell what side of the conflict these fallen soldiers fought for. We can interpret the image for our own readings, but we cannot tell what the artist intended us to see or what message he wanted to impart with it. These unknowns, however, are addressed in the related text associated with the image. These short passages can tell us a great deal about the photographer’s intentions and influence the way we read the image. Through the excerpt, we not only learn the intended meaning of the photography, but we also learn about Gardner’s political intentions and the key points he wanted his viewers to note within the image. Published as a pair, Gardner used his text to contextualize his images and inform the way we perceive them. This is clearly illustrated in “A Harvest of Death” and its accompanying passage.

During the pre-Civil War era, the technology of photography was rare or still in development. All renderings of war were either in paintings or in literature. Since artists were the only people capable of creating

Photographs were taken to show what was going on during the civil rights movement. However, they didn’t show the full story all the time. In the book Little Rock Girl 1957,

The central photographs of the movement were the images of struggle and resistance that were widely published by the media and found their way into the homes of both black and white America. Images of violence against African Americans were integral in exposing the truth of racism to a nation of ambivalence, unknowing, and utter denial. These are the images that most associate with the movement and were a crucial element in the visual culture of the time. However, civil rights leaders and activist understood that these images could not work alone. It was important to present images that would alter the nation’s attitudes towards race, images that were radically different than photographs of protests and violence.

The 1800’s witnessed technology changing the scenery of war. The invention of photography was the prominent new technology used in the war. The Photographic History of the Civil War volumes gave people insight how surgeons operated back then and how to improve modern medicine, the horrors of the battles, and

Painters enormously manipulated the truth in their portraits they painted since they aimed to present a specific meaning or feeling to their observers. One of the results, paintings of America`s wars especially before the Civil War had a

Mathew Brady was an important photographer who told the story of the Civil War. Brady was born in New York on May 18, 1822. While he was young, Mathew worked underneath Samuel Morse and learned how to use a daguerreotype to take photos. Mathew began advertising in the local paper that he was willing to take portraits. It was while taking a portrait he met his wife, Julie Handy. Mathew photographed many famous americans, such as John Quincy Adams and Abraham Lincoln. After the Civil War broke out, Brady wrote first to his friend General Winfield Scott to ask for permission to come and photograph the battles. Scott told him to write to President Lincoln, and Lincoln allowed Brady to continue. Brady recruited 17 men to help him with his task.

Before the invention of the camera, news traveled through word of mouth, writing, telegrams, and other forms of communication. Often times important moments were depicted through paintings, and drawings. Unfortunately, because of opinion and misinterpretation, many of those moments, had been depicted incorrectly. Take, for example the Boston Massacre which took place in the late 1700’s before the invention of the camera. In order to inform people of what is now known as the shot heard around the world, Paul Revere, a famous American revolutionist made an engraving of the scene.

One of the important early photographers was Timothy O’Sullivan who started his career under the study of Matthew Brady, the owner of the most well-known photographic portrait gallery in America (Davies 894). Brady was best known for his photographs and paintings of Abraham Lincoln. O’Sullivan left Brady and joined Alexander Gardner to photograph images of the Civil War. O’Sullivan built his reputation on “images that conveyed the destructive power of modern warfare” (Foresta). He captures the horrible devastation that occurred during the Civil War even though the equipment could not film action shots. Unlike most war photographers he did not move “objects and bodies” around in the picture.

Although Mathew Brady was best known for his photojournalism of the Civil War, he also became successful as a portrait photographer. A lot of his friends tried to discourage to go into battlefield and take photographs but he didn’t stop. I love what he said later when he went to capture battlefield portrait. He said, "I felt that I had to go. A spirit in my feet said 'Go,' and I went." This why photographer like Mathew and other didn’t care what will happen to them, they care about who will do it or change it if they don’t. This is why in 1862, Mathew Brady shocked America by displaying Alexander Gardner's and James Gibson's photographs of battlefield corpses from Antietam. This exhibition marked the first time most people witnessed the carnage

AUTHORSHIP- This image has no known author. Even though the author is unknown, the owners of Harper’s Weekly James, John, Joseph Wesley and Fletcher Harper along with their editor George William Curtis would recount and describe the hazardous situations in weekly editions along with illustrations and cartoons to inform the public of the endeavors of the war which became paramount. Harper’s intended audience was targeted towards the middle and upper class, people who commonly were within the same socio-economic stations. In fact the magazine declined to print anything that they deemed inappropriate for the whole family to read. Even though this image showed the war is over, its targeting the Northerner’s and the Southerner’s both, encouraged them to embrace the end of the war and that they could come together I peace and rebuild the nation as one. The author also encouraged the audience to take some type of action by using “the paper’s editorials played a significant role in shaping and reflecting public opinion from the start of the Civil War to the end of the century.” In the image it showed a very large white angel holding an olive branch in one hand representing peace restored, in the other hand a sheaf of wheat which represents harvest and fertility, the meaning

The “Image of War” written by Antony Lee reflects on the works of Gardner's “Photographic Sketch Book” as a way to give people a reality checks on politics. During the Civil War the North fought the South over the freedom of slavery to create a society where everyone has equal opportunities. Gardner uses landscape photos to expose the evil of politics and how it affects people throughout the causalities of war. For example “The Home of A Rebel Sharpshooter Gettysburg” shows the result of bad politics by turning fellow Americans against each other. The photo has a grayish coloring off to the distance which gives the photo a sinister appearance. However, the body lying on the ground looking up at the heavens implements viewers with the idea

As the well-known Chinese proverb goes, “one picture is worth 10,000 words.” This saying means that one can tell a story or convey information without ever using words: an image can be more valuable and explain a situation more clearly, and with more emotion, than words, which can often be misunderstood (Martin). This practice is common today, and can be found even 150 years ago. Images are often used to persuade audiences into a certain point of view and evoke powerful reactions that change how someone views a situation. Matthew Brady understood the influence that a picture can have, and he used his photography of the Civil War to transform how Americans viewed war.

Every picture shows the pain that African Americans who where suffering through out the years of inequality. Through it they kept are help above water to live and fight another day. These pictures signify what we had to go through in order to get what they wanted. Ultimately what they wanted was rights and to be treated fair and equal. To tell a story that is more impactful than words and they hit it on the nail with pictures.

The photographs helped me see the way the whites treated the black. The photographs were also specific in how the whites were bad to the black.The photographs were helpful and very detailed. They were also easy to understand. I would say that the photographs were my first choice for the Civil Rights Movement. The photographs are also very