Walt Whitman by Mathew Brady? or Alexander Gardner?, ca. 1862

Whitman described this photo as having "a sort of Moses in the burning bush look," and his hair and dress are very similar to another photograph, probably taken in New York. Talking about this photo in 1888, Whitman said, "Somebody used to say I sometimes wore the face of a man who was sorry for the world. Is this my sorry face? I am not sorry—I am glad—for the world." "This picture was much better when it was taken—it has faded out," Whitman noted; "I always rather favored it" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Friday, June 15, 1888).

In late September of 1862, Whitman may have attended an exhibition of Alexander Gardner’s Antietam photographs at Mathew Brady’s New York studio. This portrait is believed to have been taken some time between this showing and Whitman's later departure for Fredericksburg in December of that same year, which led to his taking up residence in Washington DC for the next decade.

For more information on Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, see "Notes on Whitman's Photographers."