How Photography Affects The Social And Political Arena

Photography had been around more than 20 years before the Civil War began. When pictures were taken, they showed colonels, bodies that were on the battlefield, even soldiers that were around the camp tent. A few photographers that will be discussed are Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, George Barnard and Timothy O’Sullivan. I will talk about how their photography affected the social and political arena as well as how photography in contemporary society provides the public with an up-close testimony to recent wars and global strife. Mathew Brady stated, â€Å"My greatest aim has been to advance the art of photography and to make it what I think I have, a great and truthful medium of history.† (Keya Morgan, 2004). Mathew Brady was a 19th century†¦show more content†¦In the social arena, Mathew Brady photographed people bringing them into his photography studio and they were connected, for example, that is where Mathew Brady met his wife Juliette Handy. Alexander Gardner worked for Mathew Brady as his assistant photographer. Although it was Brady’s name on most of the photographs, it was Gardner that took the photographs. When the Civil War started, portrait photography’s demand increased. Soldiers wanted to leave photographs and images behind with their loved ones as they posed before going to war. (Group of officers at Headquarters Army of Potomac, ppmsca 34178 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.34178) Alexander Gardner was more so known for his photographs of scenery instead of the troops. While he worked with Mathew Brady that was his focus, but once he departed from Mathew, Alexander began taking photographs of the scenes. Other photographers took pictures of the troops and men during the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia, but it was Alexander Gardner that took them of the scenery; which is how he affected the political arena. He showed a difference in campaigning. His photography affected the social arena by using the camera differently and started something new, instead of taking one photo at a time, he took four. Before Gardner died he said, â€Å"It is designed to speak for itself. As mementos of the