The Blue and Gray in Black and White A History of Civil War Photography

Subjects:

• History » American Civil War & Reconstruction History
• Military Studies » U.S. Armed Forces
• History » American History (General)
• Military Studies » Military Studies (General)

Reviews:

• Zeller, founder-president of The Center for Civil War Photography, authored The Civil War in Depth (1997, 2000), a two-volume collection of stereograms and narratives on Civil War photographic history. His current book provides a more comprehensive discussion of the conflict's photography and the work of major photographers (Matthew Brady, Alexander Gardner, George Cook, etc.), whose careers began with the advent of US photography. Using wet plate cameras, these pioneers produced many "firsts," including the earliest combat action photographs, the initial photo essays of news events as they happened (created by "embedded" photographers), and controversial images that were censored by the federal government. Zeller's scholarly work (474 endnotes accompany 161 images) covers the entire war and considers photographers from both the Union and Confederacy; actions including Fort Sumter, Bull Run (rather than Manassas), Antietam, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Atlanta; and Andersonville prison. There are 145 images from the war and 16 others illustrating broadsides, ledgers, and postwar photographers and collections. Zeller also examines the impact of photography on average citizens. The images are rendered with amazing clarity, and the captions and narratives are persuasive and informative. Recommended. All levels.
  —Choice September 2006
• Because of its convergence with advances in photographic technology, the Civil War was the first major conflict to be extensively documented by American photographers. In this volume, Zeller tells the stories of the men who used wet plate cameras to produce these startling and controversial images. He also examines the impact of photography on average Americans of the time. The text is accompanied by more than 150 b&w photos.
  —Art Book News Annual January 2007
• [A]n excellent introduction to the subject of Civil War photography.
  —Winston-Salem Journal .
• Zeller, founder of the Center for Civil War photographs, presents a revealing and frequently engrossing survey that tracks the development of the medium in chronological order parallel to the unfolding of the war. Of course, this work features a fine collection of photographs, including many that have rarely been seen. But the strength of this book is the well-written text conveying the excitement and exhilaration photographers felt as they shared the grind of military camps with soldiers and witnessed the horrors of battle.
  —Booklist January 2006

• Endorsement From Stephen W. Sears
  author of Gettysburg: Finally a definitive study of Civil War photography and photographers. Expertly conceived, written, and illustrated.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• The Era of the American Daguerreotype
• The Roots of Celebrity
• The Rebels Shoot First
• First Efforts in the North
• Gardner at Antietam
• Embedded With the Troops
• Gettysburg
• The Dawn of Combat Photography
• Photographers on the March
• The End Finally Comes
• The Years After the War
• The Journey of the Negatives
• Index