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Brady
did not actually shoot many of the Civil War photographs attributed
to him. More of a project manager, he spent most of his time supervising
his corps of traveling photographers, preserving their negatives and
buying others from private photographers freshly returned from the
battlefield, so that his collection would be as comprehensive as possible.
When photographs from his collection were published, whether printed
by Brady or adapted as engravings in publications, they were credited
"Photograph by Brady," although they were actually the work of many
people.
During the Civil War, the process of
taking photographs was complex and time-consuming. Two photographers
would arrive at a location. One would mix chemicals and pour them
on a clean glass plate. After the chemicals were given time to evaporate,
the glass plate would be sensitized by being immersed in darkness
into a bath solution. Placed in a holder, the plate would then be
inserted in the camera, which had been positioned and focused by the
other photographer. Exposure of the plate and development of the photograph
had to be completed within minutes and the exposed plate was then
rushed to the darkroom wagon for developing. Each fragile glass plate
had to be treated with great care after development, a difficult task
on a battlefield.
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