A Harvest of Death
Photograph by Timothy H. O'Sullivan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Harvest of Death is the title of a photograph taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, sometime between July 4 and 7, 1863. It shows the bodies of soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, stretched out over part of the battlefield.
It is the result of a singular photographic project by entrepreneur Mathew Brady, who wished to give a realistic account of the conflict. However, when Timothy O'Sullivan photographed the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, the deadliest engagement of the Civil War, he had recently distanced himself from his sponsor.
The photograph has given rise to a variety of analyses and interpretations, focusing on the realism of the image, the use of staging, and the representation of violence and dead corpses.
The Gettysburg Address, delivered by President Lincoln four months after the battle, contributed to the notoriety of the photograph. Despite the commercial failure of the photographers, the photograph gradually achieved celebrity and even status as a symbol of the Civil War, and as such was both celebrated and criticized.