Matthew Brady was one of the most important photographers throughout history, not only for his contributions to photography, but for being the pioneer of photojournalism. Born in 1822, at an early age Brady studied under Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code, who was also a daguerreotypist (early photography). Brady started to gain attention for his photographs of prominent contemporary figures in 1850 with his portrait collection, Gallery of the Illustrious Americans. When the Civil War began, Brady felt a need to document it. Initially he tried to photograph battles as they were happening, but due to the long exposure times, shooting things in motion didn't turn out well. Instead Brady photographed the aftermath of battles. His photographs displayed the true horrors of war to the American people. The grotesque images of hundreds of bodies on battlefields showed a whole new side of war to the American public. This type of news through photographs is now what we call photojournalism. Brady was also famous for photographing Abraham Lincoln, General Grant, and General Sherman among many other military and political officials.
MARK GLASER
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