Photo History Class: Mathew Brady

Mathew Brady was born in Warren County, New York on May 18, 1822 to Irish immigrant parents. He is known as the father of photo journalism. He was an American photo-historian. Brady was Abraham Lincoln's favorite photographer. He photographically documented the civil war. He was almost killed on the battle field. He also got very lost and almost starved to death. Historians say that the Civil War is a much more popular topic for movies than is the Revolutionary war due to photographic documentation. Brady was a very dedicated man who loved his country. He started out as a portrait photographer, but quit his very successful business to travel the country during the Civil War. He went against the wishes of his family and friends. Before he quit portrait photography he studied under F.B. Morse, opened two photography studios (one in NYC and one in Washington DC), and created "The Gallery of Illustrious Americans", one of his most famous works. He also took the photograph of Abraham Lincoln used to create the penny and the old five dollar bill. Brady's early images were Daguerreotypes, but later switched to ambrotypes. He also photographed Andrew Jackson. He created the first modern ad in the NY Harold newspaper using different type face from that of the newspaper. He was losing his eyesight during his career. Many people speculate that during this time he sent out people that worked for him to take pictures and he just signed his name to them. He had many great photos, but his hard to tell which ones were actually taken by him. He died due to complecations in a streetcar accident heartbroken, alone, and in poverty.