Mathew Brady: Civil War Photojournalist

The American Civil War was the first war to be photographed. Never before in American history had people on the home front experience war through the lens of a camera.  We have one man to thank for this - Mathew Brady - the father of photojournalism. A skilled portrait photographer who was famous for his photographs of celebrities at the onset of the war, Brady took the campaign photo that won Lincoln his first presidential election and captured the cherished portraits of soldiers before they lost their lives in battle.  His greatest contribution to American history would be mobilizing his own army of photographers (at his own expense) to go on location to capture the aftermath of battle; the great leaders on both sides; civilian heroes and heroines; and aspects of everyday army life for those at home and for generations to come. 

In this lecture-based class we will learn about Mathew Brady, his work and how he contributed to our understanding of the Civil War.  The course is highly visual, featuring a large sample of photographs taken by Mathew Brady and his team of photographers. Learners may be surprised to find that they are already familiar with some of his images.  We will discuss the photographs and how they contributed to understanding the war then and now.