The pictures listed in this select list of photographs are in the Still Picture Branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Timothy O'Sullivan, James Gardner, and Egbert Guy Fox were also employed by Brady during the conflict. Gibson at different times managed Brady's Washington studio. Although Brady himself actually may have taken only a few photographs of the war, he employed many of the other well-known photographers before and during the war. Brady is almost a synonym for Civil War photography. Because wet-plate collodion negatives required from 5 to 20 seconds exposure, there are no action photographs of the war. During the war, dozens of photographers-both as private individuals and as employees of the Confederate and Union Governments-photographed civilians and civilian activities military personnel, equipment, and activities and the locations and aftermaths of battles. The Civil War was the first large and prolonged conflict recorded by photography.

View in National Archives Catalog Introduction Engineers of the 8th New York State Militia in front of a tent, 1861.

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