Across from the entrance to our Ironclad Revolution gallery a temporary exhibition opened up this past Saturday. It’s titled Between the States: Photographs of the American Civil War and was put together (and owned by) the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. As stated on their website, this exhibition “presents a selection of facsimile photographs of historical Civil War sites and circumstances by photographers including George Barnard, Mathew Brady, and Alexander Gardner.”
You enter through a doorway meant to give you the feeling of entering one of the tents in the picture displayed ahead of you. This opens up to the rest of the gallery, showcasing photos of generals as well as the everyday soldier, giving an interesting perspective. Warning for those who might get a little queasy, there are some images with deceased soldiers. The Civil War was the first war where photography was available to display the horrors of war, and people were obsessed by it, even though a lot of the images (including those with deceased soldiers) were staged.
