Matthew Brady and Me

      More Letters From Paradise
        Matthew Brady and Me

Take down a book of Civil War photographs from a shelf, and you will often find that many of the pictures were taken by Matthew Brady. The Civil War was the first of America's many wars to be photographed.

I feel that I can really relate to him as I, too, was a photographer. Although the equipment he used, and the conditions under which he was forced to work, were vastly different than mine.

For example, he had to use a large, heavy, bulky camera with bellows placed upon a tripod. The camera used glass plates that were coated with a light-sensitive material. These plates were kept in light-tight holders. When a picture was to be made, a holder was placed in rear of the camera. A slide was removed  to make an exposure.

The major problem Brady faced was that to take a picture, a long period of exposure was necessary. And, if the subject moved, a blur was created.

Once the photo was made the next step was to develop it. Brady had a light-proof tent sitting atop a horse-drawn wagon. He had to work in the dark with chemical fumes, and no ventilation. How he must have suffered!

The subjects of his pictures shows us all the horrors of war. The dead bloated bodies of fallen soldiers. The ruined cities. The huge cannons, and much, much more.

It was the Union General Sherman who said, "War is hell." Brady shows us exactly what he meant.

There is one big difference between Brady and me. He never took any photographs from an airplane.
                       
       Aloha
       Grant