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Image information:

Laid out for burial at Antietam
Confederate dead; September 1862

Images such as these dead Confederates gives us a poignant reminder of both the horror of war and the struggle to document it. Due to photographic limitations, it was not possible to produce images during battle, so photographers used creative ways to tell the story. Using dead bodies not only allowed a vivid depiction of the battle but also a glimpse of the Confederate army.

These sorts of images and many others from the war are attributed to Mathew Brady, who has become known as THE source for most Civil War photographs. What few realize is that while Brady owned the studio, it was photographers such as Alexander Gardner, who took this image that performed the actual work in the field.

Gardner was born in Scotland in 1821 and moved to the U.S. in 1856. Within two years he was managing Brady’s studio in Washington. Gardner’s relationship with Allan Pinkerton made him the ideal photographer for the Army of the Potomac when Pinkerton was placed in charge of intelligence for McClellan. Gardner followed the army until Antietam. At this point, when McClellan was replaced, both Pinkerton and Gardner found themselves on the outside.

Gardner became disgruntled with Brady for his practice of labeling all photographs commissioned by his studio as “Photograph by Brady” rather than “Brady Studio” and attributing the individual photographer. By May of 1863 Gardner began to compete directly with Brady and hired many of Brady’s best photographers to work for him. Many of the great images of the war from that point were the work of Gardner’s studio and not Brady’s.

Following the war he published “Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War” which today is still considered to be one of the finest collections of images of the war. While he owned the images outright, he was careful to attribute the actual photographer and not make the claims that Brady had. Within six years of the end of the war, Gardner had left photography and opened an insurance company. When asked about his work during the war Gardner replied, “It is designed to speak for itself. As mementos of the fearful struggle through which the country has just passed, it is confidently hoped that it will possess an enduring interest.” He passed away in 1882. Much of his work was forgotten until 1893, when one of Gardner’s former employees, J. Watson Porter went looking for them. Tucked away in Gardner’s old house in Washington were hundreds of the original glass plates, including this one.

What others are saying:

Bob Zeller: (Author of Lincoln in 3D, Blue & Gray and Black and White, Civil War In Depth I & II) From the dawn of the photograph until the advent of practical color photography, images were hand-painted to add the color that was missing in the early photographic processes. This lost art has been admirably revived by Civil War In 3d in their meticulous tinting of stereo views of the Civil War. Following in the time-honored tradition of the anonymous artists who added color to Gardner's legendary wartime photographs and the Anthony War for the Union stereo series, Civil War In 3D reminds us with their work that the Civil War was not fought in a black-and-white world.

Stephen M. Cobaugh: "I just received my order of stereoviews in the mail. All I can say is WOW! As you know, I'm a Civil War reenactor, but also a professional photographer and graphic designer. The quality of your products is extraordinary and is superior to anything I've seen, especially the color enhancements. It's a interesting reminder of the fact that the war was in color for those who experienced it. It's only modern people who picture it in the sense of black and white or sepia tone."

Stephen M. Cobaugh is a writer, director and documentary film producer. Currently he is working on the story of the Ninety Third Pennsylvania Regiment with his film: “Brothers Ever Shall We Be”

Awards: Civilwarin3d.com was awarded September 2010 "Must See 3D" by 3-D Review Online Magazine "for their outstanding restoration work in bringing these cards to the collecting world.” “CivilWarIn3D.com provided 3-D Review with several sample cards. We were amazed at the quality. Using magnifying glasses, we expected to find halftone dots when we inspected the details of the stereoviews. The cards are truly photographic in quality and extremely sharp in detail.” We are sure that you will be equally impressed!

Shipping:

First cards ships for $5.95. Order additional cards and shipping is only $1 per card!

Background of the collection:

Civil War In 3D images' were obtained from the Library of Congress, National Archives and other quality sources. Each image has been carefully restored to remove 150 years of wear, scratches, cracks and imperfections. Then each image has spent numerous hours being hand colored to recreate, as close as possible, the original scene as it may have appeared on the day it was taken. Due to the quality of work and loving restoration that has been done, Civil War In 3D images have been accepted into the collections of photography and historical museums.

Hand coloring of images is a technique that dates to the very beginning of photography. There are many examples of period stereo view cards that were colored. With modern digital technology, the ability to color a photograph allows the image to move from a black and white photo with splashes of color, to photographs that duplicate as near as possible, life-like full color images.

Each image was created from a scan of the original negative producing a brilliant digital image up to 100Mb in size for each half (total of up to 200 Mb for both images) of the image. After restoration and coloring, the size of the combined images grew to a staggering 1Gb in size before being commercially printed. By using commercial printing and mounting, we have produced a quality image that will last and become a valued part of your collection.

After printing, each image is professionally mounted onto standard 'Holmes' size stereo card measuring 3 1/2" x 7". Each card uses a matte board to produce a durable card nearly identical to the original cards. Other reproduction cards are printed on a slightly heavy paper on a home printer and do not have the image quality of professional photo paper, or the "feel" of a commercially mounted card. A one inch stack of these other cards would hold 97 images, while ours, with our superior mount, would only hold 16! We pride ourselves in trying to recreate the original card with the best modern technology.

Restoration and coloring copyright 2009-2013 by Civil War In 3D. Printed card does not contain watermark (text on image). Please indicate your preference of Color, Sepia or Black and White when ordering. Unless a preference is given, the color image with a Matte Finish will be shipped.