Mathew Brady's Fake Corpse

[Gettysburg Greg]

By the time Mathew Brady and his assistants arrived at Gettysburg in mid July, all of the dead soldiers had been buried. Knowing that the "money shots" of the time were photos of the fallen, he had one of his assistants pose as a corpse in three images from his Gettysburg series. The posing assistant also appears in several other photos taken by Brady at Gettysburg. Whether or not Brady attempted to sell them as authentic, I do not know. Unfortunately for Brady, his assistant isn't a very convincing corpse. In all three images, his knee(s) are up and his dramatic poses make him look more like he is napping. Below is a collage of the three photos and one showing the assistant very much alive in front of the Cemetery Gate.

 

[UCVRelics]

Fake news seems to have been around for awhile.

 

[JOHN42768]

Couldn't get good help even back then.

 

[Mrs. V]

He could have at least looked a bit decayed..sheesh..splash some cow blood on him at least!

 

[Warren]

He could have at least looked a bit decayed..sheesh..splash some cow blood on him at least!

Or horse blood-there was plenty of that around...LOL

 

[mofederal]

He does look pretty bad for a dead guy. not a natural for sure.

 

[Mrs. V]

Or horse blood-there was plenty of that around...LOL

I know! If you look at the number of equines killed it's astounding!. And really, he is just too clean..

 

[Belle Montgomery]

Or horse blood-there was plenty of that around...LOL

 

[Belle Montgomery]

I know! If you look at the number of equines killed it's astounding!. And really, he is just too clean..