O'Sullivan, Timothy

Timothy O'Sullivan (1840 - January 14, 1882) was an American photographer. Very little is known about is personal life. Even his place of birth remains a mystery: either he was born in Ireland, or his parents arrived in New York before his birth. The records to prove either theory do not exist. Our knowledge of O'Sullivan's life begins in his teens, when he apprenticed to New York based photographer Mathew Brady, who would become famous for his Civil War photographs. He soon moved to Washington, D.C. and worked in the Brady studio managed by Alexander Gardner (1821 - 1882). O'Sullivan claimed that he enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, but the records to support this claim have not been found. It is likely that he was given an honorary commission and worked copying maps and plans and took photographs as well. We know O'Sullivan worked with Brady and Alexander Gardner in 1861, and when Gardner left Brady's firm in 1862 O'Sullivan went with him. It is said Gardner left Brady's studio because of Brady's tendency to declare all photos to be taken by 'Brady and Co.' O'Sullivan worked with Gardner throughout the rest of the war and produced many of his most famous images during these years. Both men were at Gettysburg, photographed the Siege of Petersburg, and O'Sullivan was in North Carolina during the siege of Fort Fisher before ending the war at Appomattox Court House. After the war, O'Sullivan became a member of the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel led by Clarence King from 1867 until 1869. He was also part of Lt. George M. Wheeler's survey west of the 100th meridian from 1871 through 1874. O'Sullivan even traveled through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, although most of his negatives were lost during that journey. The last few years of his life were spent as the official photographer for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Treasury Department. He died on Staten Island of tuberculosis.