What Camera Did Mathew Brady Use

If you lived in nineteenth-century D.C. and wanted your picture show taken, you couldn't merely whip out your own camera — you'd visit Pennsylvania Avenue NW, known locally as "photographer's row." This stretch of the avenue, between the White House and the nearly-finished Capitol building, was dwelling to a cluster of photography studios and galleries. Between 1858 and 1881, the well-nigh fashionable and famous was Brady's National Photographic Art Gallery.

Mathew Brady is probably all-time known for his work during the Civil War when he took and collected thousands of photographs documenting the backwash of major battles. But before and after the war, Brady was known as a prominent portrait photographer. In the mid-nineteenth century, when photography was a new and expanding art, Brady pioneered an industry which flourished for well over a hundred years. His studios hosted numerous famous guests: presidents, politicians, authors, actors, socialites, and other "swell men" of the nineteenth century. However, Brady's appetite for celebrity — and his notoriously bad business skills — drove away his biggest asset in Washington: studio managing director Alexander Gardner, the man behind some of the nearly noteworthy images of the war flow. Their rivalry had consequences: Brady's empire collapsed, while Gardner'south achievements and contributions were largely eclipsed by his boss's fame.

Photography became a worldwide phenomenon in the early on 1840s after the Frenchman Louis Daguerre invented his namesake photographic camera. Taking a "daguerreotype" image was a long and expensive process. A photographer treated sheets of copper with hazardous chemicals, exposed them to varying amounts of light and darkness, then developed an image by exposing the sheets to mercury fumes. Those sitting for a daguerreotype portrait would have to remain perfectly still for sixty-ninety seconds, or else hazard a blurry photograph. Fifty-fifty yet, recording likenesses had never been easier.

An 1849 advertizement for Mathew Brady's New York gallery, listing their available services and prices. Past this time, it was the near fashionable photography studio in the urban center. Source: New York Public Library, Eno Drove

Brady traveled to New York City from his hometown upstate, eager to make a proper noun for himself. What set Brady apart from other budding photographers was his willingness to experiment with the new art. A journal article from 1851 notes that Brady "resolved to bring the Daguerreotype to perfection by elevating it into the dignity and beauty of an art of taste."^[one] When he opened his New York studio in 1844, he advertised a mode of formal and artistic portraiture that appealed to high gild. He likewise understood the importance of advertizing. His greatest method for attracting business was what he chosen his "national portrait gallery": a window display showing the portraits of well-known people. Clients with some claim to fame could pose for complimentary, as long as Brady got to keep the finished product. Attracting them was slightly more difficult — Brady oftentimes snuck into high-profile parties in search of celebrities, trying to lure them back to his Broadway studio.^[two] Simply in social club for his gallery to show a diverseness of notable individuals, Brady needed to photograph the chief notables of the day: the politicians. There was only 1 identify to do that.

Brady commencement arrived in Washington in 1848, on a mission to photograph as many large names as possible. Luckily, he began with a living legend: quondam Kickoff Lady Dolley Madison, who introduced him to many potential clients. Business must have been good because Brady decided to gear up a temporary studio. In early on 1849, he rented rooms from a watchmaker on Pennsylvania Artery and 4th Street NW, in the already-established photography district. During that twelvemonth'south inauguration celebrations, he photographed the new President Zachary Taylor — a former client — at the White House. Simply despite his success, Brady fell out with his landlord and faced harsh contest from other Washington photographers. Past 1850, he was dorsum in New York.

The next decade marked the peak of Brady's career every bit a portraitist. His studio stayed busy thanks to the growing "national gallery." Patrons could view the famous portraits for free and then, hopefully, travel upstairs for their own sitting. After the development of negative plates, which immune for the mass reproduction of images, they could also buy a print of their favorite celebrity. At this indicate in his career, Brady was rarely the man behind the camera. Contemporary sources ostend that he suffered from astringent nearsightedness — a problematic handicap for a lensman.^[3] Instead, he oversaw a staff of twenty-v people: photographers, developers, artists, framers, and sales clerks. One of these hires became especially significant for the future of the Brady empire.

Cocky-portrait of Alexander Gardner, ca. 1860, posing with his camera. Source: Wikimedia Eatables

Alexander Gardner came to Brady's studio in 1856. A Scottish immigrant, he worked as a portrait lensman in Glasgow before he moved his family to New York. Brady was clearly attracted to his new employee's breadth of experience and business know-how; among his many odd jobs, Gardner had owned and operated a successful weekly newspaper. He too specialized in taking big photographs and developing enlarged prints, something previously unknown at the Broadway studio. As they developed a positive working relationship and partnership, Brady began to rely on Gardner more than than whatever other employee. And then, when Brady decided to give Washington some other go, he made Gardner the studio's new director.

Despite abandoning his starting time D.C. studio in 1850, Brady never gave up his desire for a second co-operative in the uppercase. It fabricated sense for business organization, as he often fabricated short trips to photo new Congressmen and Presidential administrations. He had personal ties to the city, too, since his wife was from Maryland. With the Broadway studio enjoying unprecedented success, Brady seized the opportunity to expand his brand.  The new-and-improved National Photographic Art Gallery in Washington opened in April 1858. Brady rented rooms in lensman's row, a few blocks abroad from his original location — this time, the studio occupied three floors of a building on Pennsylvania Artery, between sixth and 7th Streets NW.

As in New York, the main draw of the studio was the gallery infinite — gratuitous to visit and open every solar day except Sunday. In improver to the usual collection of celebrity portraits, potential clients could come across examples of the services available at the studio: mounting and framing, mitt coloring with oils and crayons, and Gardner'south enlarged "Imperial" prints. For added entertainment, Brady installed a stereoscope brandish which showed a panoramic view of Niagara Falls.^[4] The National Intelligencer reported the space was "perfection," and that Washingtonians "who take not yet seen this mannerly gallery would do well to while away an hour in scanning this array of beauty, diplomacy ... and celebrity."^[5]

The actual studio, where the two cameras were set up upwards, occupied the tiptop floor of the space — in that location, skylights and a "window wall" allowed for the best exposure. Photographers arranged the studio'due south collection of furniture and props: chairs, tables, rugs, books, and other decorative items. Some — particularly an elaborately-carved chair and a clock always prepare at 11:52—became trademarks.^[6] The finished portraits were captured on negative plates and sent to the evolution team, who produced prints for the clients. Passersby probably noticed the racks on the roof, where the negatives developed in full sunlight. In fact, appointments were canceled on rainy days.^[7]

The portrait of President-Elect Abraham Lincoln taken by Alexander Gardner in February 1861. The chair that Lincoln sits in, often called the "Brady chair," was a well-used prop in the Washington studio. Source: The National Portrait Gallery.

Brady didn't spend much time in his new studio after the grand opening. Gardner was in charge of the twenty-four hours-to-day concern: organizing appointments, managing staff, keeping the books, and taking some of the photographs. But as Brady made society connections in New York, Gardner became friends with the many notable Washingtonians who came to sit for him. His relationships with government agents — including futurity General George McClellan — would benefit him during the war years. Only the studio didn't welcome its nearly famous invitee until 1861. On February 22, staff received a telegram from their boss in New York: "President-Elect Lincoln will visit the gallery on the 24th. Please set equipment."^[8] Brady had already met and photographed Lincoln during a entrada event in New York, but now his studio would be the start to host the new President. Gardner was understandably nervous about the celebrity engagement, but Lincoln was impressed past his professionalism and skill. In fact, though the portrait circulated under Brady's name, Gardner was becoming just likewise-known in Washington as his boss. Information technology would come up to have major consequences for Brady and his studio.

Ironically, the tension between Brady and Gardner escalated equally the land also headed towards civil war. Brady began to spend more time in the capital letter and, consequentially, his studio there. He and Gardner, with their "oversize personalities," were "non likely to practice well together in the confines of a single gallery."^[nine] Gardner was used to running the place himself; and during the early on months of 1861, he was specially busy. As state of war became increasingly probable, he predicted that a wave of soldiers, fearing the worst, might come to the studio to have their portraits taken. The new fad in photography was a type of more affordable portraiture known every bit cartes de visite: pocket-size prints, the size of modernistic business cards, that were inexpensive to produce. Gardner sensed the business opportunity and purchased special cartes de visite cameras for the Washington studio, allowing photographers to have and produce soldiers' portraits quickly and efficiently.^[10] Brady wasn't every bit enthusiastic. An artist at eye, he constitute the mass production of portraiture "distasteful," since it "required petty skill ... with no opportunity for artistic embellishment."^[11] Simply Gardner'southward instinct proved to be correct: so many soldiers came to the studio that the wait was hours long.^[12]

Mathew Brady took this confident self-portrait later he returned to the studio from the Battle of Bull Run. Note the signature footer of the impress, with his proper noun and studio location, which appeared on all photographs purchased at the Brady gallery. Source: National Museum of American History.

Brady was considering the value of photography in wartime. Beyond capturing the likenesses of men in uniform, photography could document the actual war, allowing the national public to witness it. That summertime, when the Outset Battle of Bull Run broke out, Brady took two wagons to Manassas and photographed the action. Although dangerous, his effort was historic in the press. "The public are indebted to Brady," wrote a columnist in Humphrey's Periodical, "for numerous excellent views of 'grim-visaged war.' He has been in Virginia with his photographic camera, and many and spirited are the pictures he has taken."^[13] He was determined to keep this newfound mission.

"My married woman and my most conservative friends had looked unfavorably upon this departure from commercial business to pictorial state of war correspondence," Brady recounted later, just "I can only depict the destiny that overruled me by saying that…I felt that I had to go."^[xiv] He organized an regular army of his own, employing photographers from the Washington studio to back-trail and aid him on the route. One of them was Gardner, though he didn't work directly nether Brady anymore. In August 1861, General George McClellan visited the Washington studio and offered Gardner — his quondam friend — a job: the official photographer for the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. Brady's biographer Robert Wilson believes Gardner nevertheless worked for Brady during his time with the army, doing "dual service" for both of his employers.^[15] It'southward hard to tell because all of the images captured by Brady's staff were actually credited to Brady himself.

There'south no concrete evidence of a feud betwixt Brady and Gardner, only near Civil War historians believe that the rift betwixt them stemmed from Brady'south tendency to promote his own proper name over the skills of his employees. Thousands of images "photographed by Brady" exist in the Library of Congress and other archives, but historians can't be sure who took them. Another Brady biographer, Roy Meredith, argues that Brady stayed in Washington and acted as the "manager" of operations, following the news and dispatching his staff to nearby battlefields, similar Antietam.^[16] These photographers acted on their boss's behalf, so the photos they took were owned by the Brady brand. This became especially evident when Brady published catalog albums of his war photos: none of his staff received any credit. It'south easy to deduce that someone like Gardner, with equal skill and influence, resented this.

Though he never cited any official reason for his determination, by the finish of 1862, Gardner had quit the Brady studio.^[17] On May 26, 1863, Gardner established himself at a studio at seventh and D Streets NW, only a curt altitude from his former workplace. Meredith writes that the move "must take been a shock" to Brady, merely none of Brady or Gardner's genuine feelings were ever recorded.^[18] Based on Gardner's further actions, though, it seems that in that location was little love lost between the two. He took hundreds of negatives from Brady's studio — portraits and war images that he photographed and considered his property.^[19] He hired several of his former colleagues, who quickly abandoned the Brady gallery in favor of Gardner's new studio. And after that twelvemonth, ane of Brady's virtually famous patrons also followed Gardner: Lincoln. Brady was apparently so offended by the betrayal that Lincoln felt obligated to sit for him a few weeks later.^[20] Ultimately, though both men often photographed the President, Gardner took the most (and well-nigh recognizable) portraits of Lincoln. He besides captured many of the most recognizable images of the Ceremonious State of war. In 1866, he published a 2-volume "Photographic Sketchbook" that rivaled Brady'south similar publications. The major difference: Gardner credited every fellow member of his staff, even the developers, throughout the book.

When the Civil War concluded in 1865, Brady and Gardner had captured thousands of war images. But in peacetime, sales of their respective photo albums plummeted. No 1 wanted to be reminded of the horrors of war. Every bit the public moved on from scenes of soldiers and battlefields, the photographers had to return to their studios. The Pennsylvania Avenue studio had never quite recovered afterward Gardner left. Though his idea to photograph the war had been overwhelmingly successful, Brady spent $10,000 of his own money on the venture — money he never recovered. Past 1864, business was so bad he sold 50% of his shares in the Washington gallery, running it with a less-capable partner.^[21] Brady constantly petitioned Congress to purchase his state of war images, knowing they would be of slap-up celebrated value. Though they did eventually purchase some, they couldn't salvage Brady from fiscal ruin. In 1870, he sold the Washington studio. It operated under the same name until 1881, when it finally closed for proficient.

Mathew Brady in 1889, when he was no longer the famous photographer. Source: Library of Congress

Gardner'south popularity besides diminished later on the war, though he received notable commissions. In the summertime of 1865, he was the only photographer present at the execution of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, having been chosen over Brady. In 1867, he was appointed the main lensman of the Marriage Pacific Railway. His stereoscopic images, which documented the land through which the railway was built, were later compiled into another album: Across the Continent on the Marriage Pacific Railway. Simply by the early 1870s, Gardner had patently lost interest in his studio — and photography altogether. His obituary in the Washington Post reported that he "left photography" to establish an insurance company, somewhen becoming the President of the Equitable Building Clan.^[22]

Both photographers have been posthumously reunited in Washington. Gardner, a full-fourth dimension resident of the District, died in 1882 and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Northeast. Brady divided his time between Washington and New York, living in hotels and giving interviews to pay his bills. Subsequently both of his studios closed, he lived in poverty for the rest of his life. He died in 1895, in the charity ward of a New York hospital. His funeral was actually paid for by veterans, who besides funded his burial at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington. He is at that place next to his married woman, marked by a headstone that reports an incorrect twelvemonth of death.

Information technology's interesting that, despite their separation and supposed feud, Brady and Gardner didn't thrive after their split. Fifty-fifty today, Alexander Gardner's accomplishments are overshadowed by the Brady name and enterprise. In 1893, his work became better known thanks to a former banana, who discovered over 5000 negatives hidden in a Pennsylvania Avenue home.^[23]The adult images, which showed famous Civil War politicians and various battlefield scenes, helped shed lite on just how prolific Gardner'southward Washington career had been. Notwithstanding, even though Gardner doesn't ever get the celebrated credit he deserves, his erstwhile boss suffered without his business organisation skill and savvy. Remembered by history and ofttimes chosen the "father of photojournalism," Mathew Brady actually died a apprehensive death, having witnessed the collapse of his life'southward work. Their golden years were spent together in the Washington studio.

The Penn Quarter area, which Brady and Gardner once knew equally "photographer's row," looks extremely different today. The building which once housed Brady's National Photographic Art Gallery is now the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. But if you go around the back and look upwardly, yous'll run across that the famous "window wall" is nevertheless visible on the top floor. Now imagine priceless photos of famous nineteenth-century politicians —s ome of which are on display at the National Portrait Gallery — drying on the roof.

Footnotes

1. ^ C. Edwards Lester, "Chiliad.B. Brady and the Photographic Art," in The Photographic Art Periodical 1 (New York: W.B. Smith, 1851), 37.
2. ^ Robert Wilson, Mathew Brady: Portraits of a Nation (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013), 23.
3. ^ Josephine Cobb, "Mathew B. Brady'south Photographic Gallery in Washington," in Records of the Columbia Historical Club, Washington D.C. 53/56 (Washington: Historical Society of Washington D.C., 1953), 31.
4. ^ Cobb, 42.
5. ^ The National Intelligencer, June 21, 1858.
6. ^ Cobb, 43.
7. ^ Ibid.
8. ^ Wilson, 67.
9. ^ Wilson, 53.
10. ^ Cobb, 47.
11. ^ Cobb, 47-48.
12. ^ Wilson, 82.
13. ^ Humphrey's Journal of the Daguerreotype and Photographic Arts and the Sciences and Arts Pertaining to Heliography thirteen (New York: Joseph H. Ladd, 1861-1862), 133.
14. ^ Roy Meredith, Mr. Lincoln's Photographic camera Man: Mathew B. Brady (New York: Dover, 1946), 88; Wilson 111.
15. ^ Wilson, 116.
16. ^ Meredith, vii.
17. ^ Wilson, 147.
18. ^ Meredith, 144.
19. ^ Wilson, 148.
20. ^ Wilson, 169.
21. ^ Wilson, 200.
22. ^ "ALEXANER GARDNER DEAD: A Prominent Figure in Masonic and Other Circles Passes Abroad," The Washington Postal service, December 11, 1882.
23. ^ "War Time Photographs: Negatives for Years Neglected Take Been Discovered," The Washington Mail service, 1893.

Source: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2020/04/17/tale-two-photographers-mathew-brady-and-alexander-gardner

Posted by: lenahancrioul.blogspot.com

Share this post