How Photography Helped Change People's Opinions of The Civil War

988 Words2 Pages

Through some author’s point of view which usually contained useless bias, people were able to look at photographs and criticize the written propaganda about the good outcomes of comes, since most of the photographs depicted death and destruction. Furthermore, Matthew Brady’s opening of the civil war photo gallery in New York City in 1862 gave more and more people the access to experience war through realistic photographs which changed many people’s perception of the war. Over 1000 pictures and portraits were displayed in glass display cases. While it covered most of the war, Brady’s major focus was on the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam which represented event such as blood stains on grass and the myriads of unburied bodies. Specifically, the photos of "Dead: Horse of Confederate Colonel (picture 2), both killed at Battle of Antietam" and "Dead Confederate Sharpshooter at Gettysburg," both depict lifelike elements of dead human beings which was bothersome to many people and made them grow exhausted of war, since most of them had the hidden feeling that it could be possibly their husband or son that had previously ridden that horse. Also, "Three Children of the Battlefield" taken during the battle of Gettysburg became a highly controversial photograph since it provided a clear insight of effects of war on the destruction of families. Moreover, The enormous outcry of the people led to raise money to open an orphanage in Gettysburg for children of fallen Union soldiers.

Furthermore, The medium of photography also gave people a glimpse of improved weaponry such as canons and rifles; hardships faced by soldiers such as torn clothes and lack of food; armies on the move and wounded soldiers suffering at hospitals. In addition, pho...

... middle of paper ...

...paper articles were more elaborated. Also, after seeing the photo galleries and pictures from the war, many people were interested in becoming photographers so they could experience adventure and satisfaction. In summary, Civil war had a clear impact on photography.

In conclusion, the American civil war, photographed by more than 3000 individual photographers, had a huge impact on photography, while for the most part photography played a major role throughout the course of the war. Although civil war was recorded on numerous amount of books, Photographs taken during that time frame still seems have the power of influence and most people choose to believe in photographs, since they tell a story of reality. Doesn’t matter how gruesome or unpleasant most of them look, photographs from civil tend to leave a lasting impression even on people living in the present.

Open Document