A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Early Photography
This photograph is the most well known artwork from Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Sullivan was a photographer that took many pictures of the American Civil war, mostly to document the battles. This photo in particular is of the Battle of Gettysburg, and shows many dead union soldiers after the battle, and soldiers in the distance looking at their dead comrades. These photographs could be taken because of new wet-plate technology that allowed photographers to document events on the spot, without the need for extremely long capture times. This artwork had a significant impact, and sobering affect on the people who saw them, about the horrors of war.
Why This Artwork?
This artwork was chosen to show the Early Photography movement, as well as subject matter such as this one. This photograph is important in particular because of the impact it had, and its ability to be redistributed to many people across many nations.