Maker/Artist
Gardner, Alexander
American photographer and printer, 1821-1882, born in Scotland
In 1856 Mathew B. Brady invited Gardner to move from Scotland to New York City, New York to work for him at his New York gallery. From 1858 to 1863 Gardner ran Brady's Washington, D.C. gallery. At this time Gardner was using electric light to photograph. In 1863, Gardner left Brady's firm and decided to photograph the Civil War by himself. He photographed Abraham Lincoln at the Battle of Antietam. He also became the official photographer of the army of the Potomac. In 1863 Gardner opened his own studio in Washington, D.C. where he sold mainly stereographs. In 1865 Gardner did the reportage on Lincoln's assasination and funeral. In 1866 Gardner published "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War". In 1867 he closed his Wahington studio and became the official photograher of the Union Pacific Railroad's Eastern Division. He photographed the construction of the railway to California, including the networks of Kansas, West Mississippi, and Missouri. During this time he also made portraits of American and Peruvian Indians. In 1868 he photographed the Fort Laramie Treaty Council. Gardner returned to Washington, D.C. in the 1870s where he operated a studio and photographed members of the Indian Treaty delegations.
