ABSTRACT
Mathew Brady—the leading photographer of the era and a man who was close to Lincoln—received permission to accompany Union troops to the front lines of battle. These photos—of both the president and the era—fill out a compelling story for the nation, one that neither newspaper text nor the president alone could provide. Among the more compelling approaches from scholars of photography, American philosopher and linguist Peirce developed theories about visual images that influence perception. First with the US Coast and Geodetic Survey and then with Johns Hopkins University, Charles Sanders Peirce analysed images from the Civil War era, interpreting them as a collection of symbols. While scholars and artists alike since Peirce have interpreted the stories told by images of the era at varying levels of depth and purpose, contemporary students have invariably seen the artefacts through the lens of modern technology.
