The American Civil War
One of the most significant events of the 19th century was the American Civil War and with the recent development of photography the war was documented by some early photographers. Mathew Brady was an American photographer who fought for access to the battlefields of the American Civil War to produce photographs despite the risks he would be taking. Brady was successful and his risk in taking his studio into the war earned him a name in history as a war documentary photographer as well as a celebrity photographer.The image below was captured by Mathew Brady during the civil war, the photo is really dramatic due to the realism it has. The black and white colour scheme (only option available at the time) makes our minds immediately believe that it is a documentary image and therefore the photo appears realistic. The photograph documents bodies of soilders on the ground of the battlefields, this picture will have been a new perspective for those in the 19th century and therefore more shocking when Brady published.

The image below was also captured by Mathew Brady also and is a powerful documentation and inside look at soilders at war. The image gives us an idea of the emotions and relationship the soilders had as we can see their facial expressions and body language around eachother.

Mathew Brady was a great influence on the documentary photography and war photography we see today for example the likes of Don McCullin.