The photographs of Mathew Brady became icons of American identity. One of his portraits of Abraham Lincoln has entered the collective memory of the world. Today, it is one of the best known and most widespread images of all. It adorns the five-dollar note and is a symbol of American capitalism. Of the 19 presidents of the USA between 1825 and 1896, Brady portrayed 18, with only the 9th president, William Henry Harrison, not included. He died in office, three days before the official photo session with the well-known portraitist. His name, however, is linked to one of the most traumatic events in American history, the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
Brady was born in New York as the son of Irish immigrants and began an apprenticeship with the portrait painter William Page at the age of 16. Here he developed his passion for the human physiognomy, which only found its artistic expression after another encounter with Samuel F. B. Morse. With Morse, Brady was confronted with the methods of daguerreotype, the first technical imaging process. He was fascinated by the technical imaging of human beings and over the next decades he actively participated in the development of photography and also changed imaging technologies several times. In addition to commissioned works in his photo studio opened in New York, Brady worked on a "Gallery of Illustrious Americans", which established his reputation and earned him a number of international awards as a photographer.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the photographer's subject changed. In the beginning he tried to earn money with the Civil War by an advertising campaign, in which he offered families to photograph their sons before they went to war. Under the motto "You can tell, how soon it may be too late", he worked with the families' fear of loss. But then he found his artistic calling and established himself as a war photographer who documented the battles and human sacrifices of war on both sides. He received permission from Abraham Lincoln to accompany the Northern troops, but with the restriction that he had to pay for the financing himself. With his camera and portable darkroom, Brady moved into the direct battlefield and gave a face to the horror of the first technological war in human history. The project grew and by the end of the war in 1865 Brady employed a total of 17 assistants who had produced over 10,000 photographic plates. Brady invested over $100,000 in the campaign in the hope that the government would subsequently pay for the costs incurred. But after the end of the war, the cruelty of the battlefields became taboo and Brady was granted only $25,000 by the U.S. government in 1875. Brady died completely impoverished and blinded in New York, but his photographs of the American Civil War live on.
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1706374).jpg "Untitled (Portrait of Two Girls) by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1709559).jpg "Untitled (Portrait of Man) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Lieutenant General Scott, General-in-Chief, U.S. Army and Staff by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1706047).jpg "Untitled (Portrait of a Seated Man) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Lieutenant General Scott, General-in-Chief U.S. Army, & Staff by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Maj. Gen. Andrew Atkinson Humphreys. Chief of Gen. Meade")
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.jpg "President Abraham Lincoln, Washington D.C. by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Army Wagon Going to Commissary Depot, City Point, for Supplies by Mathew B. Brady")
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![[Gen. Ulysses S. Grant] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/300px/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Gen_Ulysses_S_Grant_-_(MeisterDrucke-1713752).jpg "[Gen. Ulysses S. Grant] by Mathew B. Brady")
![[Gen. Ulysses S. Grant] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/400w/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Gen_Ulysses_S_Grant_-_(MeisterDrucke-1713752).jpg)
.jpg "American Civil War Compilation Album: Mostly Group Portraits of Generals and Their Staffs Plus Some Camp Scenes by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Cornelia Van Ness Roosevelt by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Portrait of an Unidentified Middle-aged Man with Muttonchop Whiskers, Wearing Wire-rimmed Glasses by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General W.S. Hancock and Staff by Mathew B. Brady")
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![[Members of the New York Sanitary Commission] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/300px/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Members_of_the_New_York_Sanitary_Commission_-_(MeisterDrucke-1713877).jpg "[Members of the New York Sanitary Commission] by Mathew B. Brady")
![[Members of the New York Sanitary Commission] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/400w/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Members_of_the_New_York_Sanitary_Commission_-_(MeisterDrucke-1713877).jpg)
_(bw_photo)_-_(MeisterDrucke-36056).jpg "Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1719033).jpg "Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818 - 1893) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Kate Chase Sprague by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Japanese Embassy, Navy Yard, Washington, DC by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Ft. Runyon Settlers by Mathew B. Brady")
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_1860_-_(MeisterDrucke-1717994).jpg "Prince of Wales and Suite (New York). 1860 by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1717587).jpg "Major-General Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825 - 1914) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "William Tecumseh Sherman by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Officers, 71st Regiment, New York Infantry by Mathew B. Brady")
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![Gen. [Romeyn B.] Ayers by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/300px/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Gen_Romeyn_B_Ayers_-_(MeisterDrucke-1712073).jpg "Gen. [Romeyn B.] Ayers by Mathew B. Brady")
![Gen. [Romeyn B.] Ayers by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/400w/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Gen_Romeyn_B_Ayers_-_(MeisterDrucke-1712073).jpg)
.jpg "The First Ironclad Gunboat built in America, 1861 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Woman and Child by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Major General Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorville, Virginia, 3rd May 1863 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Major General A.E. Burnside by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Major General David E. Twiggs by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Dana, Assistant Secretary of War; taken at Gen. Grant")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-584602).jpg "General Robert E Lee and Staff, 1865 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Landscape with Lake by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Edward Everett by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Madame Medori by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Abraham Lincoln standing with one arm behind his back by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Robert E. Lee by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Portrait of General John A. Logan by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Unidentified Union Civil War General by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Admiral David Glasgow Farragut by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-51153).jpg "Portrait of Winfield Scott Hancock (1824-86) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Lincoln")
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.jpg "Unidentified Bearded Man, Printed in Vignette-Style by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Colonel John T. Croxton by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "George Inness by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Edgar Allan Poe by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Gen. Ulysses S. Grant by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Daniel Webster, from")
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.jpg "Summer Camp Scene, 1861-65 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Millard Fillmore, from")
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.jpg "Thomas Edison, c.1877-8 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General Ulysses Simpson Grant, engraved from a photograph, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Prince of Wales and Suite by Mathew B. Brady")
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_at_the_battle_of_Chickamauga_20th_Septembe_-_(MeisterDrucke-264124).jpg "General George Henry Thomas at the battle of Chickamauga, 20th September 1863 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Robert E. Lee by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General Robert E. Lee Sitting in His House in Richmond, 1865 by Mathew B. Brady")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-315397).jpg "Managers of the House of Representatives of the Impeachment, 1868 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Ulysses S. Grant by Mathew B. Brady")
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 June 1864 - April 1865 - (MeisterDrucke-241923).jpg "A Sutler")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-648720).jpg "Major-General Joseph Hooker, c.1863 by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-75879).jpg "Portrait of George Stoneman (1822-94) by Mathew B. Brady")
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![[Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/300px/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Joseph_Camp_Griffith_Kennedy_-_(MeisterDrucke-1717808).jpg "[Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy] by Mathew B. Brady")
![[Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/400w/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Joseph_Camp_Griffith_Kennedy_-_(MeisterDrucke-1717808).jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-107009).jpg "Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant by Mathew B. Brady")
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_(litho)_-_(MeisterDrucke-37703).jpg "Portrait of John Alexander Logan by Mathew B. Brady")
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![[Unidentified Bearded Man Standing, a Top Hat and Coat on Nearby Table] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/300px/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Unidentified_bearded_man_standing_a_top_hat_and_coat_on_nearby_table_-_(MeisterDrucke-1721169).jpg "[Unidentified Bearded Man Standing, a Top Hat and Coat on Nearby Table] by Mathew B. Brady")
![[Unidentified Bearded Man Standing, a Top Hat and Coat on Nearby Table] by Mathew B. Brady](/kunstwerke/400w/Mathew_B_Brady_-_Unidentified_bearded_man_standing_a_top_hat_and_coat_on_nearby_table_-_(MeisterDrucke-1721169).jpg)
.jpg "Grapevine Bridge over the Chickahominy River by Mathew B. Brady")
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 (detail of 254703) - (MeisterDrucke-70188).jpg "Portrait of Jefferson Davis (detail) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Fort Totten defenses of Washington by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "The")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-242725).jpg "Jenny Lind, The Swedish Nightingale (1850) by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-164970).jpg "Edgar Allan Poe by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General Charles Griffin and Officers, 1861-65 by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-281402).jpg "Portrait of General Winfield Scott, 1861-65 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Execution scene by Mathew B. Brady")
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_photograph_by_Brady_in_-_(MeisterDrucke-1062690).jpg "Portrait of American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) photograph by Brady in the 19th century by Mathew B. Brady")
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 c1844-60 (daguerreotype) - (MeisterDrucke-276195).jpg "Samuel Morse (1791-1872) c.1844-60 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Lewis Cass, from")
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.jpg "General A. E. Burnside in Camp by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Captain Battery by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Ruins at Richmond, Virginia, 1865 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Filling Their Canteens, 1861-65 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Officer of the Federal Army, 1861-5 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy, 1859-60 by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-271002).jpg "Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-55087).jpg "Edgar Allan Poe by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "John Henry and Reuben at Leisure by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "James Fenimore Cooper, c.1850 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Company of Infantry near Harper")
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.jpg "Union Brig. Gen. Samuel Wylie Crawford and staff, summer 1862 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Henry Winter Davis by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Abraham Lincoln sitting at a desk in the Washington Gallery, May 1861 by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-94583).jpg "Portrait of Gideon Welles (1802-78) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Abraham Lincoln by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Group portrait of the chief envoys of the first Japanese Embassy to the United States, Washington D.C. by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "Edwin Booth and his daughter Edwina by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General David Hunter (1861-65) by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General Robert E. Lee at His House in Richmond, April 1865 by Mathew B. Brady")
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.jpg "General Grant")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-241262).jpg "Army square hospital for Union Army veterans by Mathew B. Brady")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-151736).jpg "Officers of the 4th New York Volunteers, 1861-65 by Mathew B. Brady")
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_from_The_History_of_the_United_States_Vol_II_by_Charl_-_(MeisterDrucke-50076).jpg "Winfield Scott (1786-1866) from")
_from_The_History_of_the_United_States_Vol_II_by_Charl_-_(MeisterDrucke-50076).jpg)
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