Mathew Brady is regarded as one of America’s most important 19th century photographers and a founding father of photojournalism. His portraits of notable Americans, including Abraham Lincoln, together with his documentation of the American Civil War, mark him out as one of the key pioneers of the medium.
A charismatic figure with a fair for self-publicity, Brady was, at his peak, one of America’s most famous photographers. Yet, through a combination of errors of judgement and tragic events, he died penniless and largely forgotten.
Ironically for a photographer, Brady was plagued by problems with his eyesight from an early age. Around the age of 12, he suffered from an ‘infammation of the eyes’ that almost resulted in him going blind. While being treated in Saratoga, New York, Brady met William…