Forgotten Lives

I recently spent some time touring Antietam Battlefield, site of the bloodiest day of the Civil War. I've been there many times, so I'm usually somewhat uninterested. However, during this most recent time, I read some material about a man named Matthew Brady. Mr. Brady is considered the father of phorojournalism and was one of the first to take pictures of any American conflict. As a lover of photography, I am amazed that we have this pictures available to us, considering these images are about 150 years old.

Here is some background information: "Brady's efforts to document the Civil War on a grand scale by bringing his photographic studio right onto the battlefields earned Brady his place in history. Despite the obvious dangers, financial risk, and discouragement of his friends he is later quoted as saying "I had to go. A spirit in my feet said 'Go,' and I went." His first popular photographs of the conflict were at the First Battle of Bull Run, in which he got so close to the action that he only just avoided being captured.

He employed twenty three men, each of whom were given a traveling darkroom, to go out and photograph scenes from the Civil War. Brady generally stayed in Washington, D.C., organizing his assistants and rarely visited battlefields personally. This may have been due, at least in part, to the fact that Brady's eyesight began to deteriorate in the 1850s."

Also in 1862, Brady presented an exhibition of photographs from the Battle of Antietam in his New York gallery entitled, "The Dead of Antietam." Many of the images in this presentation were graphic photographs of corpses, making the presentation totally new to America. This was the first time that anyone had seen the realities of war firsthand (albeit in photographs) as distinct from previous "artists' impressions"."

I was so intrigued by the life of Matthew Brady, especially when I heard about the end of his life. Read on:

"During the war Brady spent over $100,000 to create 10,000 prints. He expected the U.S. government to buy the photographs when the war ended, but when the government refused to do so he was forced to sell his New York City studio and go into bankruptcy. Congress granted Brady $25,000 in 1875, but he remained deeply in debt. Depressed by his financial situation, and devastated by the death of his wife in 1887, Brady became an alcoholic and died penniless in the charity ward of Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, from complications following a streetcar accident. His funeral was financed by veterans of the 7th New York Infantry. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C."

It's so tragic to me that a man who basically gave his life to secure these important historical photos died in such a way and is basically a forgotten figure of history. He obviously loved his country and was passionate about his work. He said, "No one will ever know what they [the photos] cost me; some of them almost cost me my life."

You can read more about Matthew Brady here. Please take some time to view his amazing photos here and here.