Born in New York, O'Sullivan (1840 - January 14, 1882) began working as a teenager for Matthew Brady. Early in the Civil War O'Sullivan served as a first lieutenant in the Union Army. After his discharge, he began working for Brady again, this time as a photographer assigned to follow the Northern Virginia Campaign.
It was during this time that O'Sullivan made one of the most famous images of the Civil War, shortly after the battle at Gettysburg. Observe below:
The Harvest of Death, 1863, 2005.100.502.1, Metropolitan Museum of Art
It was during this time that O'Sullivan made one of the most famous images of the Civil War, shortly after the battle at Gettysburg. Observe below:
The Harvest of Death, 1863, 2005.100.502.1, Metropolitan Museum of Art
After the Civil War, O'Sullivan had a nominal base in Washington DC, but spent the majority of his time in the West, where he worked as the official photographer to several survey teams. Unlike Fenton, there are no extant writings by O'Sullivan. This is frustrating for scholars, as there is no record of what he was thinking when he made his photographs. He takes sweeping liberties with the levelness of the horizon, photographs from unusual angles, and generally makes the images more dramatic and unsettling than other landscape photographers of his day. We do know that most of the expedition leaders pretty much let O'Sullivan photograph as he liked.
The Pyramid and Domes, Pyramid Lake, Nevada, 1867, LOT 7096, no, 89, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
The Pyramid and Domes, Pyramid Lake, Nevada, 1867, LOT 7096, no, 89, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Karnak, Montezuma Range, Nevada, 1867, LOT 7096, no. 76, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Witches Rocks, Utah, 1869, LOT 7096, no, 19, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
1 comment:
I tend to take sweeping liberties with the levelness of the horizon too, but most of the time its because I wasn't paying attention.
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