Seeing the Elephant: Photography and the American Civil War by Jeff Rosenheim

As the Civil War ravaged the United States, photographers were present to document and memorialize the fierce conflict. For the first time ever, the camera recorded a long and ferocious war from the beginning to end. This was not only a brutal test of the young American republic but also a watershed in the history of photography. Jeff L. Rosenheim, Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, discusses photography during this critical period in this talk. He fell under the magical spell of photography as a 10-year-old and has had the pleasure of working at the Met for 32 years. He is the author of "Photography and the American Civil War." Presented on August 15, 2020.