JEFF ROSENHEIM: What resonates in this full plate tintype is the sitter’s direct stare at the camera. The simplicity of the composition. The soldier’s slightly rouged cheeks and his vacant look. It’s as if he’s seen the abyss and has come back.

NARRATOR: As many as 750,000 men lost their lives during the American Civil War. And either before or after they enlisted, most had their photographs made.

ROSENHEIM: We see soldiers looking into the camera asking basic questions. And one of those is, how am I going to prepare myself for what lies ahead?

NARRATOR: This tintype was likely made by an itinerant or traveling photographer…

ROSENHEIM: Who followed the armies North and South. And most had a colorist on staff, often the artist's wife or sister even. They touched the uniforms’ buttons with gold, and they applied characteristic tones to the fabrics worn by the soldiers.

NARRATOR: Today we encounter this man as an anonymous soldier. But the color carefully added to his cheeks reminds us that he was once a living, breathing individual.

ROSENHEIM: That’s where the pathos of the war comes through most clearly.
This section of the exhibition explores the role of the camera during the war.

The Civil War is the crucible of American history. And during the five years of the war the medium of photography matured in profound ways. And what survives from the period is a rich photographic record of remarkable complexity.