A Harvest of Death

Uncommon card · No. 176610

A Harvest of Death is the title of a photograph taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, sometime between July 4 and 7, 1863. It shows the bodies of soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, stretched out over part of the battlefield. It is the result of a singular photographic project undertaken by entrepreneur Mathew Brady, who wished to give a realistic account of the conflict. However, when Timothy O'Sullivan photographed the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, the deadliest engagement of the Civil War, he had recently distanced himself from his sponsor, like another employer of Brady's, Alexander Gardner with whom O'Sullivan worked together from then on. The photograph has given rise to a variety of analyses and interpretations, focusing on the realism of the image, the use of staging, and the representation of violence and corpses. The Gettysburg Address, delivered by President Lincoln four months after the battle, contributed to the notoriety of the photograph...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Public domain