I'll admit to not knowing much about photography, but I am very aware of Matthew Brady's work because of my interest in the Civil War. Since photography was in its infancy at the time, it was no small feat for him to record as many quality photographs as he did. The images he produced give us a great glimpse of individuals and the tragedy of the Civil War. His work to bring us real life images of the battlefield is one of the first steps in bringing about modern warfare, although his contribution was not about tactics or technology but more about sharing the effects of war with those who could not witness it themselves.

If he isn't the first photojournalist, he's so close that you couldn't live on the difference. His pictures of the American Civil War are excellent, both in the character studies and in the aftermath views of the battlefield.

Camera and film technology of the time did not allow action shots, but his studies of the grim reality of death on the battlefield. During the Civil War Brady exhibited photographs from the Battle of Antietam in his New York gallery entitled, "The Dead of Antietam." Many of the images in were graphic photographs of corpses which shocked viewers and was the first time most Americans saw the realities of war.

This may be my favorite of his. A study of three captured Confederate soldiers, they appear worried yet proud in defeat.

http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/img/display_med ia.php?mets_filename=evm00001203mets.xml&resolu tion=lowres