Today it is a mystery where Mathew was born. Most say that he was born in Warren Country, New York. Some sources say that he was born in Ireland. He was born between the years 1822 and 1824. Brady either didn’t know when he was born or just didn’t want to tell.His childhood is almost as great a mystery as his birth. The most we know about it is that his childhood was spent in Saratoga Springs, New York. Nowhere does it tell of his parents or his siblings, if he had any.
When Brady began studying photography he was about sixteen and they used daguerreotype photography. When one used this they had to first take copper plates that had a silver coating on them. Then they would expose it to iodine vapors for about five to thirty seconds. After it was exposed to mercury vapors it was washed with chemicals. Then came the finished product. This type of photography was useful in still photos, but could not be used for action photos.
Mathew started his career by taking photographs of distinguished Americans. Such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Zachary Taylor and his cabinet. He used these photos in his volume named The Gallery of Illustrious Americans. The picture he took of Abraham Lincoln is now found on the five dollar bill. This photograph, Lincoln believed, help him win the election.
In 1849, Brady opened a studio in Washington, D.C., where he photographed more presidents and famous people. He took the first ever photograph of President Zachary Taylor and his cabinet. Then he opened a studio in New York City.
When the Civil War began Brady was very interested in photographing it. He got Lincoln's permission and off he went. He had to hire photographers, and make a traveling dark room. He hired Alexander Gardner and Timothy O’Sullivan. They later quit because Brady put his name on their photos.
Brady put at least 100,000 dollars into his war efforts. He had risked his life and fortune for this, and now he was ready for his payment. He had more than 10,000 negatives and no place for them to go.
He could find no one to buy his negatives. The American society didn’t want reminders of what they had done. They didn’t want to remember of who had perished and the price that they paid in the war. With no place to turn some of the negatives were sold at auction and 2,000 were sold to the government for 25,000 dollars.
Brady tried to come back as a photographer in Washington, but his eyes would not allow. Once again he had no one to turn to, and his health was falling. Brady died on the sixteen of January in the year 1896. He was nothing but a bankrupt alcoholic. What a end for the once famous Mathew B. Brady.
To this day, you can still see what Brady has left for us. Everywhere you see Civil War things you see his impact. You can still see the horror of war through those photos. You can still see his goal.
Mathew Brady was right in what he did. He gave up all he had for that, and it was worth it to us. He did what no one else had ever done in photography. He brought home the battlefield like no one else could.
