Mathew Brady

by L. Jacko

Mathew Brady's name is synonymous not only with pioneer photography, but also as an invaluable recorder of history. Among those in the 1860's, Brady was famous for the technical advances he contributed to photography, as well as the pictures he took. For us in the 1990's, Brady's greatest importance lies in his dedicated determination to photograph history.

Early Life

Brady was the youngest of five children. As a youngster he helped on the farm, but could do little because he suffered from inflammation of the eyes or weak eyes.

While in Saratoga Springs, he apprenticed himself to a casemaker. His lack of education hindered him in finding a better job. At 5' 6" tall, his slight physical stature prevented him from performing any hard labor (Kromroff 11).

While in Saratoga he met William Page, a 28-year-old artist. Brady became friends with Page and may have helped Page in his art studio in Albany. Page introduced Brady to Samuel F. B. Morse, who had just returned from France in the hopes of interesting the French in the telegraph. While in France, Morse heard of Daguerre's invention and became quite interested in it. Page and Brady then moved to New York, where Morse instructed Brady in the Daguerre process.

Brady and the Daguerreotype

During the late 1500's, the camera obscura or darkened chamber was invented in Italy. It was a large box with lenses in one side and an eyepiece at the opposite side. Objects were focused with lenses and reflected by mirrors.

In 1826 Niepce coated a sheet of pewter with a light-sensitive chemical. He then placed a plate in the camera in the opposite lens and pointed the lens through a window to a brightened scene. Eight hours later the plate was washed with oil of lavender and white petroleum. The scene was left on the plate (Sullivan 11-12).

Daguerre took Niepce's photo process further in 1837. He used a thin sheet of silver-plated copper with fumes from heated crystals of iodine. He then used a box-like camera and exposed it to light for 40 minutes. The plate was taken out and developed with vapors of heated mercury. The image was left. The images were known as Daguerrotypes. By 1841 exposure time for pictures was less than 1 minute instead of 40. Daguerre also wrote a 79-page pamphlet about photography. It was written into five languages.

The New York Herald called photography "the new art." It then added, "In Europe a longer exposure is required because an American sun shines brighter than a European" (Kromroff 25).

Brady's studio required equipment. Plates of two sizes, either 8x10'' or 12x6'' were used. Retouching tools like brushes, inks, colors, and piles of tissue paper were needed to cover up a wrinkle or dark shadow in the picture (Turner 9).

Along with large photos, carte de vistes were also taken. These were 2 1/2 x 4'' photos. Families could buy these pictures at a cheaper price. War heroes and famous people of the period appeared on them. They were sometimes used as trading cards. Brady didn't like these cards because he felt it cheapened his art. They sold for 10 to 25 cents each. Brady eventually made tens of thousands of dollars on the carte de vistes.

Brady's Subjects

Mathew Brady photographed some of the most famous faces in history. Brady said, "From the first, I regarded myself as under obligation to my country to preserve the faces of its historic men and women" (Sullivan 25).

Because his studio was near Barnum's Museum, Brady often photographed the odd and unusual characters that worked there. The fat lady, the skinny man, the midget, the Irish giant, and Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker were among his portraits (His World115-131).

Edgar Allen Poe, William Ross Wallace, Washington Irving, and Harriet Beecher Stowe were some of the writers who posed for Brady. As he traveled to Boston and Washington, D.C., Brady photographed Dolly Madison, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, James Polk, and other government officials.

Brady published a book called Gallery of Illustrious Americans. This book included 12 photos of presidents and senators. The book sold for $30, which was considered expensive for the time. Although the book received rave reviews, it did not sell well.

While in Washington, Brady met Julia Handy, the woman he eventually married. They moved back to New York where they lived in Astor House, the most elegant hotel of the time.

Brady's success as a photographer extended beyond the United States. The world leaders of his era-Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Lyons, Queen Emma of Hawaii, and Giuseppe Garibaldi of Italy-wanted to be photographed by Brady (His World 133-144).

But perhaps his most famous portraits were those of President Abraham Lincoln. Brady's first pictures of Lincoln were taken in 1860. He photographed Lincoln with son Tad and also his inauguration in 1861. Lincoln's mourning displays, photos taken after Lincoln's assassination, are of particular historical significance.

Brady soon opened another studio in Washington called the National Photographic Art Gallery. Brady put Alexander Gardner, a great businessman and photographer in charge of the studio. While at the studio in Washington, Gardner worked anonymously and gave all the credit to Brady. This situation caused problems later.

Because of Gardner's business skills and because of the carte de viste craze in the 1850's and 1860's Brady was becoming quite wealthy. In March of 1860, Brady opened an even more lavish studio than the first two. It had portraits of many distinguished people. It also had a dressing room and a separate entrance for the ladies.

By now, Brady started to use the negative process, which was an easier process. Also, the negatives could be made into many copies or could be enlarged.

Brady and the Civil War

By 1861 the United States was getting ready for a civil war. Many soldiers with their new uniforms went to Mathew Brady for a picture to send to their families. Military leaders also had their pictures taken before they went on the battlefields.

Brady soon wanted more of a challenge. He wanted to photograph the war. Brady said, "A spirit in my feet said 'Go' and I went" (Horan 35). Lincoln then gave permission for Brady to be on the battlefield taking pictures. This was to be the first war fully documented by photographs. Gardner claimed it was his idea to cover the war; but however Brady disagreed.

On July 21, 1861, at Bull Run Brady, equipped with a wagon full of supplies, Brady set off to photograph the Civil War. Brady's plan of photographing the war didn't go over as easily as he had hoped. After taking pictures, the wagon tipped over in the frenzy of the retreat. Only a few of the pictures were salvaged. He returned to Washington the next day.

Because his near-sightedness was becoming worse, Brady hired over ten assistants to photograph the war. Gardner photographed the war for the first few years alone. Soon other photographers were added to the field.

The Civil War was known as the "living room" war because each home became familiar with the war through weekly magazines that published the pictures. The "realism" of war was now shown. Death, poverty, hunger, and torture showed how soldiers and people surrounded by war were effected by it (IHAS 2).

Photographers documented foot soldiers, military officials, ironclad ships and the dead if they weren't sickened by the sight or stench. The stench was so great that often photographers had to wear handkerchiefs around their faces. The most horrendous and easiest pictures to take were those of the dead and injured because there was no movement. It was these photos of the dead that had the most impact on people.

In 1862 Gardner and James Gibson photographed Antietam. Antietam was known as "America's Bloodiest Day" because 26,000 people were killed, wounded, or missing. Gardner and Gibson photographed dead soldiers, camps, and actual combat (Sullivan 88).

Brady then put those pictures in his gallery, and published two more books. They were Brady's Photographic Views of the War and Incidents of the War. In the books, Brady gave no recognition to any of the real photographers and took all the credit for himself.

Soon after, Gardner left Brady and took another assignment for Gen. George B. McClellan and was given the honorary rank of captain. Although his military service was brief, Gardner did not stop photographing. He opened a studio in Washington and published a book. Unlike Brady, he gave credit to each photographer who took the pictures. As a result, Gardner was becoming damaging to Brady.

Brady gave his Washington studio to Gibson. Because employing all of his assistants on the battlefield was becoming a financial burden, Brady had to dip into his savings to pay photographers and supplies.

Gardner took Gibson and other Brady assistants to photograph Gettysburg. Gardner focused on death and grave views. Gardner was quite pleased that he beat Brady to Gettysburg. Brady arrived a week later. Brady's pictures lacked the impact of death, but they were still popular and published by Harper's Weekly (Sullivan 96). As Captain J.J. Russell quoted:

"...The public does not and cannot realize the part that the camera served in bringing down the facts of the late war for future history; one cannot look back but with wonder and admiration on these few, industrious painstaking men..." (Horan 33).

Brady's Downfall

By 1864 Brady was set back by financial problems. Gibson lacked Gardner's business skills and that cost Brady money. Many of Brady's field photographers quit out of frustration, because of the lack of supplies and money. Brady used $100,000 of his savings for plates, chemicals and supplies. He had no money left. He bought his supplies on credit and the creditors wanted their money.

Brady's studio in Washington was losing business. Creditors wanted their money, so they took legal action. By 1868, Brady declared bankruptcy on his Washington studio. The property was sold at an auction and bought back by Brady for $7,600. He was the only bidder.

Brady was also having trouble in New York. He sold a duplicate set of negatives to Anthony and Co., one of his biggest debtors. He was also in debt from rent and clothing. He sold property to relieve some the debt. Brady, with debts of $25,000 or more declared bankruptcy on his New York Studio (Kromroff 153).

To get some money Brady tried to sell his pictures to the New York Historical Society, but they didn't want them. The government eventually bought Brady's 5,712 negatives for $25,000. A large sum of that money went to his creditors.

These were dismal times for Brady. New photographers with their new techniques beat Brady to the pictures. His studio was run down, his wife was suffering from a heart ailment, he had severe arthritis, and his eyesight was now a handicap. During this time he also became quite negative and drank heavily.

Brady and his wife lived in the National Hotel. That soon got too expensive, so they moved to a boardinghouse. Eventually, they ended up living in Brady's studio. Levin Handy, Brady's nephew, took over the studio, but not for long. An old employee sued Brady and that eventually led to the foreclosure of Brady's Washington studio in November of 1881.

In 1887 Brady's wife, Julia, died of a heart ailment. Not long after, around 1893, Brady was crossing the street when a horse and carriage hit him. This accident left him bleeding and unconscious. After the accident, Mathew lived with his niece and nephew. In either 1894 or 1895, Brady moved back to New York and into an apartment near his once lavish studio.

Months before a banquet was to be held in his honor, Mathew Brady collapsed with a kidney ailment. He died soon after on January 15, 1896. Except for his last thousand wet plates and daguerreotypes, he had no property or belongings left.

Works Cited

• Horan, James D. Mathew Brady: Historian with a Camera. New York: Bonanza Books, 1955.
• IHAS: Artist/Movement/ Ideas: Matthew Brady. Website. http://www.wnet.org/archive/ihas/Icon/brady.html, 29 Sept 1998.
• Kromroff, Manuel. Photographing History: Mathew Brady. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1962.
• Sullivan, George. Mathew Brady: His Life and Photographs.New York: Cobblehill Books, 1994.
• Mathew Brady and His World.Canada: Time-Life Books Inc.,1977.Life Books Inc.,1977.
• Turner, Jean-Rae. "Brady of Broadway: First Press Photographer." Cobblestone, April 1981: 9-11.

This webpage was created by L. Jacko on March 31, 1999 for History and Thought of Western Man for Rich East High School, Park Forest, IL.