Gibson, James F.

James F. Gibson (1828/1829 - unknown) was a Scottish photographer. Born in Scotland in 1828 or 1829, little is known of Gibson’s life before he arrived in the United States in 1860, when he appears in the U.S. Census for Washington, D.C. At the time Gibson was working in Mathew Brady’s Washington, D.C. studio. While the American Civil War began in April 1861, Gibson’s field work apparently began in March 1862. That month Gibson and George N. Barnard photographed locations around Centreville, Virginia, as well as ruins at Bull Run and fortifications at Manassas. Then, Gibson photographed parts of McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign in May 1862, including several portraits of officers. Gibson continued photographing for Brady until Gardner’s uprising against Brady, when Gibson chose to follow Gardner. While working for Gardner, Gibson photographed Hooker’s campaign in Virginia and Gettysburg. Gibson, Gardner, and O’Sullivan were among the first photographers to reach Gettysburg after the battle and document the destruction. Gibson returned to Brady’s employ in July 1864 and became manager of the Washington, D.C. studio. At that time, Brady’s finances were failing badly, and in September Brady convinced Gibson to buy half of the Washington studio for $10,000. Gibson continued to work in the Washington, D.C. studio until 1868, when the studio finally failed. It is unclear what happened to Gibson after the studio failed. It is known that Gibson heavily mortgaged the studio at some point in 1868, so some speculation exists that he took the cash from the mortgage and fled west to Kansas. But that is simply speculation.