When you hear the phrase “Civil War photography” your thoughts might jump to the dramatic and historically important images captured during the Civil War by notable photographer Matthew Brady. Brady’s photos are often found in the pages of textbooks and histories that cover all aspects of the War Between the States.
Brady was also a portrait photographer, and the portrait photographs taken of Civil War soldiers by Brady and other photography studios throughout the country are often the only glimpse of a remote ancestor who fought during the American Civil War.
Photography became commonplace in the 1840s after the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839; as time progressed, other methods became available and, around the time of the Civil War, two other types of photographs – tintypes and carte de viste (CdV) – were developed that would make photography more widely available and cost effective. This made it possible for almost anyone to have a portrait created. Tintype photographs were made by exposing chemicals on an iron plate to light through a camera. The resulting image was a one of a kind that could not be reproduced; however, CdV photograph’s utilized a glass negative, allowing a photograph to be reproduced as many times as the subject wished.
Both types of photographs were quite common throughout the Civil War, and the Greene County Historical Society Archives have many such photos. The photos shown here are unidentified Civil War soldiers made in the tintype format and represent the most common styles of photography used by photographers when photographing a Civil War soldier.
If you are a researcher and are interested in seeing if the Greene County Historical Society Archives hold photos of your Civil War ancestor, visit www.greeneconnections.com. Candice Buchanan has spent a great deal of time archiving and recording the Greene County Historical Society collection and making it available to the public via The Greene Connections Archive Project.
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