Frederick Hohmann

Art Historical Context

**Frederick Hohmann** (1865) by Reed Brock Bontecou captures a poignant moment from the American Civil War era through an albumen silver print from glass negative. This medium, popular in the mid-19th century, egg whites to bind light-sensitive silver salts to paper, producing richly toned images with exceptional detail and clarity—ideal for documenting the stark realities of wartime life. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Photographs Department, gifted by Stanley B. Burns, M.D., and The Burns in 1992, it exemplifies the era's pioneering photographic techniques. Bontecou, a surgeon and skilled photographer, worked at Harewood Hospital in Washington, D.C., creating clinical portraits of wounded soldiers to aid medical study and advocacy for veterans' pensions. Frederick Hohmann, likely a Union soldier, stands as a testament to the war's human toll, his image frozen amid the conflict's final year. These photographs bridged art and science, humanizing the abstract horrors of battle for future generations. Today, this work highlights photography's role in historical preservation, offering visitors a direct window into Civil War sacrifices and the empathy embedded in 19th-century visual records.