Roger Fenton
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Another one of his photos during the
Crimean War, this photo is of Balaklava which is one of the army sites during
the war. Because of the lack of advancement in photography in that time, the
photo features unmoving objects and focuses on the landscape.
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This was one of Roger Fenton’s most famous
photographs, The Valley of Shadow Death. As you can see, his photographs stay
true to his vision, which takes a step back from the aspect of the blood and
violence of war, and focuses on the landscape.
Mathew Brady
Mathew Brady was born in warren County, New York He was
known for taking the most important photographs of historical personalities
during the 19th century. He
was the first one to take photographs of the American Civil War. A film maker
who is famous for his program television series the “civil war” said his show
would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Mathew Brady photographs, he
called the photographs “the backbone of the series” and also one of the reasons
the civil war is much more popular than the revolutionary war was because with
Mathew Brady’s photographs taken at that time was a very clear portrait of
witnessing the war and its heroes. The photos Mathew Brady took were truthful
and included the bad side of war, unlike Fenton’s whose only showed the “good”
side. Mathew Brady lived the last days of his life alone, and
sick, he devoted his life for preserving the history of his country. His
photographs were taken by him towards the end of his life he said that no will
ever know how much this photographs cost him, he said it almost cost him his
life. In January 15 he died alone and forgotten. His photographs and the love
for his country will always be remembered by millions of people all over the
world. One of Mathew Brady’s famous quote about photography is
“My greatest aim has been to advance the art of photography and to make it what
I think I have, a great and truthful medium of history."
 
Dead at Antietam
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner was a 61-year-old
Scottish photographer who began his full time career after moving to the United
States in 1856. He focused more on the American Civil War and the Late Abraham
Lincoln. When you look at Gardner’s work it is filled with war photos of dead
soldiers or portraits. The photos can make someone uneasy, as they documented
the more gruesome acts of war. He had the chance to witness the, “battle at
Manassas”, Gardner was dispatched as a photographer to record the war. Although
Gardner staged some photos, not all were taken this way. Gardner did make a
remarkable name for himself and managed to have over 70 of his shots in the New
York gallery. Gardner was also known for taking the last known photograph of
President Lincoln, just 5 days before his assassination.
Alexander Gardner's most famous faked photograph
Dead confederate soldier's in the "Devil's Den"
Robert Capa
Robert Capa is actually an American identity that Hungarian
born Andre Friedman and Polish born Gerda Tero created to sell Friedman’s photographs.
His most iconic photographs come from WWII. He risked his life on many
occasions to get the most truthful and powerful photos of war her could. He
would achieve this by taking his pictures at very close range, sometimes only
inches away from the fatally wounded soldiers. His famous quote “If your
pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough,” was one he lived by when
it came to his work. Capa is one of the many wartime photographers who risked
their lives just to capture the truth of war on film. Robert Capa, after having cheated death
several times, vowed to never risk his life doing war photography again.
However, in 1954, he agreed to take photographs of the conflict between the
French and The Viet Minh in Indochina, for LIFE magazine. While attempting to
get as close as he could, he stepped on a land mine and was killed.
D-Day
The Fallen Soldier
Similarities and Differences
There is really
only one similarity between all four of these photographers, and that is that
they all produced wartime and combat photographs. Although the objective of
capturing war on camera was the same between them, the way in which they all achieved
this was different.
Robert Fenton only
showed the “good” side of the war, he did this by taking photographs that glamorized
war and didn’t show any blood, violence or wounded soldiers. This was done in
compliance with the government as an attempt at propaganda.
Like Robert Fenton,
Gardner’s photos weren’t truthful as he staged many of them for an artistic
effect. However, unlike Fenton, they didn’t glamorize war and showed the more
gruesome side of it.
Mathew Brady wasn’t
like Fenton or Gardner. He showed all sides of war in a truthful way with no
manipulation or staging.
Robert Capa was like this as well, although his photos
were better and more iconic as they were taken at very close range. Capa risked
his life and did what he could to get the most natural, action packed shots of
war, and that’s why his are the most known today.
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