Brady, Mathew (1822 - 1896)

Mathew B. Brady (c. 1822–1824 – January 15, 1896) was an American photographer. Known as one of the earliest and most famous photographers in American history, he is best known for his scenes of the Civil War. He studied under inventor Samuel Morse, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brady opened his own studio in New York City in 1844, and went on to photograph U.S. presidents John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Millard Fillmore and Martin Van Buren, among other public figures.

When the Civil War began, Brady's use of a mobile studio and darkroom enabled thousands of vivid battlefield photographs to bring home the reality of war to the public. He also photographed generals and politicians on both sides of the conflict, though most of these were taken by his assistants rather than by Brady himself.

After the end of the Civil War, these pictures went out of fashion, and the government did not purchase the master copies as he had anticipated. Brady's fortunes declined sharply, and he died in debt.

Mathew B. Brady (18. toukokuuta 1822 – 15. tammikuuta 1896) oli yhdysvaltalainen valokuvaaja, joka tunnetaan parhaiten Yhdysvaltain sisällissodan visuaalisesta dokumentoinnista ja julkisuuden henkilöiden muotokuvista.

Brady kuvasi lukuisien Pohjoisvaltioiden merkittävien henkilöiden muotokuvat, mukaan lukien Ulysses S. Grant, Nathaniel Banks, Don Carlos Buell, Ambrose Burnside, Benjamin Butler, Joshua Chamberlain, George Custer, David Farragut, John Gibbon, Winfield Hancock, Samuel P. Heintzelman, Joseph Hooker, Oliver Howard, David Hunter, John A. Logan, Irvin McDowell, George McClellan, James McPherson, George Meade, Montgomery C. Meigs, David Dixon Porter, William Rosecrans, John Schofield, William Sherman, Daniel Sickles, Henry Warner Slocum, George Stoneman, Edwin V. Sumner, George Thomas, Emory Upton, James Wadsworth, ja Lew Wallace.

Etelävaltioiden puolella Brady kuvasi myös muotokuvia, mukaan lukien Jefferson Finis Davis, P. G. T. Beauregard, Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, Richard Lyons, James Henry Hammond, ja Robert E. Lee.

Mathew B. Brady, född 18 maj 1822 i Lake George i Warren County i New York, död 15 januari 1896 i New York, var en amerikansk fotograf, en av amerikanska inbördeskrigets mest berömda fotografer. Han bildade en grupp fotografer som dokumenterade krigets slag.

Brady började redan som 16-åring som professionell porträttfotograf.

1862 hade han sin första utställning med bilder från slaget vid Antietam; dessa visade inbördeskrigets råhet utan försköningar. 1875 inköpte USA:s kongress Bradys samling av bilder för 25 000 dollar. Denna är idag ett ovärderligt dokumentärt material.