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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Enigmatic Daguerreotype Portraits from 1840-1860

A beautiful and sublime glimpse into the past
The daguerreotypes below are from the studio of Matthew Brady, one of the most celebrated 19th century American photographers, best known for his portraits of celebrities and his documentation of the American Civil War which earned him the title of “father of photojournalism”. The Library of Congress received the majority of the Brady daguerreotypes as a gift from the Army War College in 1920. [via publicdomainreview]



Unidentified man, about 30 years of age. Photographed between 1844 - 1860

Unidentified woman, about 20 years of age (taken between 1851 and 1860)

Unidentified U.S. Army officer

James Buchanan

Portrait of unidentified man [between 1844 and 1860], by Mathew Brady’s studio.

Bishop Frederic Baraga holding his Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language

William Cullen Bryant

William C. Dawson

 

James Duncan

Asher Brown Durand

Memucan Hunt

John M. Washington


Zachary Taylor and his cabinet, all seated except President Taylor

 Left to right: William Ballard Preston, Secretary of the Navy; Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the Interior; John Middleton Clayton, Secretary of State; Zachary Taylor, Twelfth President of the United States; William Morris Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury; George Washington Crawford, Secretary of War; Jacob Collamer, Postmaster General; Reverdy Johnson, Attorney General.

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