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Home Learn Topics Photography in the Civil War
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A black and white photograph of men advertising with signs posted on their horse and buggies

Photography in the Civil War

Learn more about photography during the Civil War, from techniques used in the 1860s — including 3-D photography — to what photos can reveal about battles to tips on taking photos yourself on the battlefield.

Explore Photography

This is the "In4 Minutes" logo.
Civil War  |  Video

Photography and the Civil War

Photograph of Mathew Brady
Civil War  |  Biography

Mathew Brady

Black and white photograph of Gaines Mill
Civil War  |  Article

Documentary Photography Comes of Age on the Peninsula

Soldiers walking across Cedar Mountain
Civil War  |  Article

New Insights into Cedar Mountain Photography

Wet Plate Development
Civil War  |  Article

Photography and the Civil War

A black and white photograph of men advertising with signs posted on their horse and buggies
Civil War  |  Lesson Plan

Civil War Photography Inquiry Middle School Lesson Plan

A black and white photograph of men advertising with signs posted on their horse and buggies
Civil War  |  Lesson Plan

Civil War Photography Inquiry High School Lesson Plan

This is a landscape image of a Civil War battlefield.
Civil War  |  Article

10 Facts: Civil War Photography

Photograph of Alexander Gardner
Civil War  |  Biography

Alexander Gardner

Alexander Gardner's famous photo of Confederate dead before the Dunker Church on the Antietam Battlefield
Article

Origins of Photojournalism

Although the history of photography begins in antiquity with the projection of images via camera obscura, the first, unsuccessful attempts to...

More About Photography

  • The Overland Campaign on Paper and Glass »
  • Alexander Gardner »
  • In Through the Camera's Lens: Savage Station »
  • Showing a Battlefield in its Best Light »
  • Book: Antietam in 3-D »
  • Bound for Freedom's Light: African Americans in the Civil War »
  • The East Woods in Photos »
  • President Lincoln at the National Portrait Gallery »
See all Topics
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