Picturing Lincoln

Taylor Colloins A1
I liked this book because it gave information about famous photographs I have seen time and time again of Abraham Lincoln. It explained the process of taking the photos, why they were taken, when they were taken and what Lincoln’s life was like at the time of the photo. It was interesting to me that these photographs were really the only media known of Lincoln at the time. We are so used to the constant barrage of politicians photographed in action, but during Lincoln’s time the technology to take photographs easily was not available.
The book is divided into 5 different chapters. Each chapter focuses on one of five of the most famous and well-known photographs of Lincoln. This format allows the reader to focus on one photograph and it’s history. It also gives the background on the photographer who took the photo and what was happening at the time period the photo was taken.
The thing I found most interesting in the book was the opinions on Lincoln’s photographs. Lincoln gave many commentaries on his photos. He considered himself homely, but approved most of the photographs taken of him. He even considered the
“Tousled Hair” photograph to be a true image of himself, while family members and those closest to Lincoln despised it. Lincoln’s own son, Robert, is quoted as believing the five-dollar bill portrait to be the photo that looked most like his father and captured his likeness perfectly.

Summary:
This text examines the different photographs taken of Abraham Lincoln through out his life. In total, there are about 130 different photographs that we know of. He was photographed on 66 different occasions. However, most Americans know his image from 5 of the photographs that were more widely distributed, 3 of which were taken by the foremost American photographer at the time, Matthew Brady. The earliest known image of Lincoln was taken in 1846 when he was thirty- seven years old.
The interest in photographing Lincoln came about...