Picturing Death
Gardner's and Brady's photographs of the Civil War aimed to report wartime realities to northern families. Many of the photos idealized the war, showing photos of soldiers prepping or hanging out at camp. Even the photos of dead bodies left on the battlefield were idealized. Often the photographers would move the bodies to get better photos. The death showed in these civil war photos was static, void of action and the actors inflicting this death and violence. By only presenting the end product, death, to the view, they can come up with any narrative in their head on how that soldier died, allowing them to project what ever death story they please. The question remains, how much of this is deliberate and how much is because of technology limitations of the time which forced all subjects in the photo to be still for a significant amount of time. Even this idealized version of the war portrayed in Gardner's and Brady's photographs were not well received in the North. These photos of death shocked people from the north and the military even took effort to limit their exposure.
In sharp contrast, the lynching photographs are more violent, yet better received than the Gardner's and Brady's photos. James Allen's collection of postcards depicts the lynching of Black Americans in the south as theatrical event. In many of the photos, the act of lynching involves the gathering of families with even children present. These murders are seen as justice by the communities they exist in taking Black “villains” from the jail, often aided by the police themselves, and holding mock trials that ended in lynchings. The fact they the images were made into postcards speaks to how these were not seen as offensive or violent images, but something so normalized it could be place on a post card. Although they were not taken to capture violence, they are inherently more violent than the civil war photos. In most of the lynching photos the actors who inflicted the violence are present in the shot. Additionally, although the action of violence was not included in the photo, it leaves no mystery in how these Black Men died. Both the lynching and the civil war photos are extremely violent by nature, however they are interpreted differently based on the context in which they exist.
In sharp contrast, the lynching photographs are more violent, yet better received than the Gardner's and Brady's photos. James Allen's collection of postcards depicts the lynching of Black Americans in the south as theatrical event. In many of the photos, the act of lynching involves the gathering of families with even children present. These murders are seen as justice by the communities they exist in taking Black “villains” from the jail, often aided by the police themselves, and holding mock trials that ended in lynchings. The fact they the images were made into postcards speaks to how these were not seen as offensive or violent images, but something so normalized it could be place on a post card. Although they were not taken to capture violence, they are inherently more violent than the civil war photos. In most of the lynching photos the actors who inflicted the violence are present in the shot. Additionally, although the action of violence was not included in the photo, it leaves no mystery in how these Black Men died. Both the lynching and the civil war photos are extremely violent by nature, however they are interpreted differently based on the context in which they exist. 
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