Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg
1863
Marking the spot where Union General John Reynolds was killed on Gettysburg's first day, this photograph transforms an ordinary Pennsylvania field into hallowed ground. The seemingly peaceful landscape captured in this albumen print belies the violence that made this location historically significant.
- Medium
- Albumen print, pl. 37 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866)
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Spotted works by Timothy O'Sullivan
Artists in conversation
Alexander Gardner
American · b. 1821
Gardner was O'Sullivan's direct collaborator and employer who created nearly identical albumen print documentary photographs of Civil War battlefields, capturing the somber stillness of historically significant landscapes with the same monochrome gravitas seen in this Gettysburg image.
Mathew Brady
American · b. 1822
Brady pioneered American Civil War documentary photography using the same albumen print process to transform ordinary landscapes and locations into historically weighted records, sharing O'Sullivan's commitment to capturing the quiet aftermath of violent historical events.
George Barnard
American · b. 1819
Barnard created landmark albumen print documentary photographs of Civil War landscapes and battlefields, imbuing seemingly peaceful rural American scenery with deep historical and somber meaning through the same restrained monochrome photographic approach evident in this Gettysburg field image.
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