Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg
July 1863
Medium
Albumen print, pl. 41 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866)
Dimensions
17.7 × 22.9 cm (7 × 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
photograph
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196395
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Alexander Gardner documented America’s Civil War, concentrating on scenes in camp as well as the tragic aftermath of fighting. After the war, in 1865, he published Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War, two volumes of 50 prints each accompanied by floridly written descriptions of the scenes he and his photographic staff had witnessed. At Gettysburg—one of the deadliest battles, and a turning point in the conflict—he made the now iconic photograph of a Confederate sharpshooter in his fina...
About the Artist
Alexander Gardner · 1840–1882
Alexander Gardner was born on 17 October 1821 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and came of age in a culture shaped by radical social thought. Influenced by the cooperative ideals of Robert Owen, Gardner initially apprenticed as a jeweler and harbored dreams of founding a utopian community in America. His encounter with photography changed the course of his life. After seeing Mathew Brady's cele...