[Camp Scene with Soldiers of the 22nd New York State Militia, Harper's Ferry, Virginia]

Dimensions: Image: 8.7 x 5.8 cm (3 7/16 x 2 5/16 in.) Mount: 10.2 x 6.1 cm (4 x 2 3/8 in.) Credit Line: Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2013 In fall 1862 Brady made a rare group of carte-de-visite studies of the Twenty-second New York State Militia outdoors at Harpers Ferry. These portraits—as much like traditional genre scenes as any produced during the war—are among the most carefully composed extant field photographs. Almost all feature soldiers conversing, playing cards, sitting on folding stools at their mess, or visiting with their wives. As much as it is a portrait, this carte de visite is also an appreciation of the many tactile pleasures of the army tent—the soldier’s portable home.