Great Black and White Photographers II

the photographer i have chosen is Timothy O'Sullivan. because we know little about his personal life Timothy was born in Ireland in the year 1840 and moved to new York two years later or was born in new York soon after his parents moved there. he died on January 14 1882 on Staten island in New York City, New York. when he was around the age of 15 he became an apprentice of Matthew Bradly in a new York studio. When the civil war had started he went to a Washington D.C. studio of Bradly that was under Alexander Gardner at the time, soon he was determined to photograph the war. Because Bradly was taking all the credit for their photos O'Sullivan and Gardner left Bradly and started photography on the war. After the war had ended Gardner had published a book with their photos called sketchbook of the civil war. then in the year 1867 he was made the photographer of the U.S. geological survey. his first job was going across the 40th parallel in a civil expedition lead by Clarance King. During that trip he became the first photographer to photograph workers in a mineshaft because he used a magnesium-flare as a source of light. then in 1870 he had another expedition this time a military expedition lead by Lieutenant Commander Thomas O. Selfridge to find a canal route but due to heavy rain and a thick jungle the photography was poor. then just one year later he went on another expedition to the grand canyon. in the year 1880 he was made the official photographer for the u.s. treasury department due to recommendations from his peers and friends but just five months later he caught tuberculosis so he went to his fathers house on staten island and died in 1882 at the age of 42 years old. I really like his work because of how clear he got them and the angles that they were at.

























sources: http://iphf.org/inductees/timothy-h-osullivan/, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Timothy-OSullivan