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vate sphere of his life. His collecting interests ranged
from coins to curiosities, including photography and
related publications. Boyer’s collection, the “Alden
Scott Boyer Museum for the Preservation of American
Curiosities (Free),” was housed in a bank building in
Chicago. His intense interest in photography began
after reading Photography and the American Scene by
Robert Taft in 1938. Boyer acquired many items from
dealers and scouts in several countries. Additionally,
he contacted the descendants of many photographers,
such as Southworth and Hawes, to procure images,
documents, and ephemera from their careers. Boyer also
sought out relationships with photographic scholars
and collectors. One such association with Beaumont
Newhall led Boyer to donate his photographic col-
lection to The George Eastman House in 1951. The
4½ tons of what Boyer called “photo junk” became a
foundation for the history of photography. Boyer died
on June 16, 1953 in the bank building that housed his
remaining collection.
Sarah Templeton
BRADY, MATHEW B. (1823–896)
American photographer
Few reliable facts are known about Mathew Brady’s
early life other than he was born to Andrew and Julia
Brady circa 1823 in Warren County, New York. His
father had immigrated to the United States from Ire-
land and made his living as a farmer in the southern
Adirondacks. By 1840 Mathew had moved to New York
City, and may have studied with the artist and inventor
Samuel F.B. Morse. In 1843 he manufactured cases for
jewelry, miniatures, and daguerreotypes. A year later,
he opened his fi rst daguerreotype studio on the corner
of New York’s Broadway and Fulton Streets, near P.T.
Barnum’s museum.
Among the dozens of daguerreotype studios operat-
ing in New York City in the 1840s, Brady’s Daguerrean
Miniature Gallery was one of the most prominent.
Immediately after opening his studio, Brady received
widespread recognition for his daguerreotypes. Begin-
ning in 1844 and continuing throughout the decade he
regularly received awards at the annual American In-
stitute fairs. The New York City fairs, which promoted
advancements in agriculture, commerce, manufacturing,
and the arts, included exhibitors from across the United
States. Indeed, in the 1840s and 1850s Brady’s work
was praised for its artistic qualities both nationally and
abroad. Countless New York celebrities frequented
Brady’s studio. The portraits displayed on his gallery
walls represented a “Who’s Who” of American notables,
including politicians, actors and actresses, writers and
artists, and religious leaders. Through his association
with these famous sitters, Brady became the fi rst celeb-
rity photographer. He lured famous sitters to his studio
with the promise of a complementary daguerreotype,
if they allowed him to keep one for display in his gal-
lery. The general public fl ocked to his studio, excited to
view portraits of famous personalities, and to be seen by
the other visitors. His gallery provided an educational,
experience for the emerging middle class who not only
became more familiar with important Americans, but
also joined them by having their own portrait made at
Brady’s studio.
Due to his poor eyesight, Brady usually did not oper-
ate the camera himself. Instead, he thoughtfully posed
his sitters and made them feel comfortable during the
procedure. In the January 1851 issue of The Photo-
graphic Art Journal, art critic C. Edwards Lester wrote:
“While he offered inducements to the best operators
and chemists to enter his studio, he superintended every
process himself, and made himself master of every de-
partment of the art ...” Some of his camera operators and
gallery managers became well-known photographers,
including George S. Cook, who ran Brady’s New York
City gallery in 1851 when Brady traveled to Europe and
Alexander Gardner who, in 1856, was hired to work in
Brady’s New York studio.
As his reputation grew, Brady moved his original
New York studio to larger and more prestigious locations
on Broadway. His later studios were celebrated for their
richly appointed reception rooms and extensive portrait
galleries. Photographs were displayed fl oor to ceiling,
along with large portraits in oil of prominent Americans,
their likenesses based on Brady daguerreotypes. The
darkroom and fi nishing rooms were located away from
public view. Brady pioneered in the use of skylights to
increase the natural light entering the studio, reduce
exposure time, and produce evenly lit portraits. Most
of his daguerreotype portraits are bust-length, with
the sitter’s face angled slightly away from the camera.
Brady’s early images usually do not include props, but
his later studio portraits regularly use a variety of props,
including chairs, a table, an ornate gold clock, books, a
column, and drapery.
In 1848 Brady opened a studio in Washington, DC,
hoping to attract members of the U.S. House and Senate
and to add to his growing collection of portraits. Among
the personalities he photographed were President Zach-
ary Taylor and his cabinet. Brady’s original Washington
studio was not fi nancially successful and he was forced
to close it within the year due to high operating expenses
and competition from other experienced studios, such
as the one run by John Plumbe, Jr. Ten years later,
Brady was more fortunate when he opened a studio on
Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. Alexander Gardner
successfully managed this studio, combining business
skills with his talent as a photographer.