Dear stephenh-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. No
historical events of great interest came out of Matthew Brady?s studio
in Washington DC and no infamous scandals took place there that have
been recorded for posterity. What did occur however was a seemingly
revolving door of famous or "soon-to-be" famous figures. For two
decades Matthew Brady?s relatively casual brush with historical people
is probably incomparable to any other businessman living in modern
times.
Matthew Brady opened ?Brady's National Photographic Art Gallery?, in
1858 at 350-352 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (conveniently located at the
center of Washington's business district, halfway between the White
House and the Capitol). This is the location you are referring to and
there appears to be significant recordings about what went on there in
terms of who was photographed. In time Brady employed an emigrant
named Alexander Gardner who eventually made quite a name for himself
when he perfected what came to be known as "Imperial Photographs" and
which effectively replaced the older daguerreotype. These 17 by 20
inch prints became quite popular and Brady became pretty succesful
because he was able to sell them for between $50 and $750; and
astounding amount of money for the time. As technical history goes, it
could probably be said that the daguerreotype met its demise first at
Brady's Washington studio almost exclusively at the hand of Alexander
Gardner.
ALEXANDER GARDNER
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPgardner.htm
Brady?s studio was a veritable swinging door of famous people. The
following notable people from American history are among those
photographed by Brady and all of them listed here are known to have
been photographed at the Matthew Brady Studios in Washington:
Nathaniel Banks http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWbanks.htm
Don Carlos Buell http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWbanks.htm
Ambrose Burnside http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWburnside.htm
Benjamin Butler http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAbutlerB.htm
George Custer http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWcuster.htm
David Farragut http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWfarragut.htm
John Gibbon http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWgibbon.htm
Winfield Hancock http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhancock.htm
Samuel Heintzelman http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWheintzelman.htm
Joseph Hooker http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhooker.htm
Oliver Howard http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAChowardO.htm
David Hunter http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm
John Logan http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWlogan.htm
Irvin McDowell http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmcdowell.htm
George McClellan http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmcclellan.htm
James McPherson http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmcpherson.htm
George Meade http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmeade.htm
David Porter http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWporter.htm
William Rosecrans http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWrosecrans.htm
John Schofield http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWschofield.htm
William Sherman http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWsherman.htm
Daniel Sickles http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWsickles.htm
George Stoneman http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWstoneman.htm
Edwin Sumner http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWsumner.htm
George Thomas http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWthomas.htm
Emory Upton http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWupton.htm
James Wadsworth http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWwadsworth.htm
Lew Wallace http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWwallace.htm
Here you will find Matthew Brady?s ?list of sitters? (many of which
were undoubtedly photographed at the Washington Studio) and take note
of the fact that many other notable people not mentioned above are
among them:
COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF SITTERS
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/gallery/bradindx.html
Brady also took over 3,500 photographs of the Civil War such as the
battles of Antietam (September, 1862), Fredericksburg (December,
1862), Gettysburg (July, 1863) and the siege of Petersburg (June,
1864-April, 1865) as well as photographs of Mary Surratt, Lewis
Powell, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlin, Edman
Spangler and Samuel Arnold after they were arrested and charged with
conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Though they were obviously
taken elsewhere, presumably all of these photos were processed at the
Washington Studio giving birth to the most vivid visual account and
powerful documentary of the brutal Civil War era that history would
offer.
Following the links on this page you will find a ?virtual? recreation
of Brady?s studios with actually photographs inset.
MATTHEW BRADY PORTRAITS
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/brhome/bradcont.html
All was not well at the Washington Studio however. Brady?s eyesight
began to rapidly deteriorate and he relied more and more on Gardner
and O'Sullivan for much of the day-to-day business affairs. Both
Gardner and O?Sullivan became disenchanted with Brady?s strict
policies and in time left to go into business separately. Gardner
would open his own studio in both Washington and in Philadelphia and
O?Sullivan would make his own mark in the art before dying of
tuberculosis in 1881.
After some financial problems, Brady sold his studio but bought it
back when he recovered from his debts in 1868. The new address from
the late 1860?s on is actually the one you mentioned (located at
625-627 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.), but the majority of his now-famous
photographs were made during his time with Gardner and then
?apprentice? Timothy O'Sullivan (who would someday become chief
photographer for the Department of the Treasury and a notable figure
in his own right).
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOURCES
MATTHEW BRADY
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPgardner.htm
MATTHEW BRADY?S WORLD: TIMELINE
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/timeline/timeli2.htm
MATTHEW BRADY?S WORLD: BRADY AND THE CIVIL WAR
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/war/civilpg.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
MATTHEW BRADY
ALEXANDER GARDNER
WASHINGTON
STUDIO
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE |
