Thomas C. Roche

Thomas C. Roche (1826–1895) was a photographer known for his photographs of the American Civil War.

Roche's first job as a professional photographer was for Henry T. Anthony, a chemist in New York, and his brother Edward, for whom he took photographs of the city and the harbor starting in 1859. [Harry Johnson, "Maritime New York in Nineteenth-Century Photographs" (New York: Dover, 1980), xiv.] He continued to work for the Anthonys during the war, making photographs for his company's popular "Instantaneous Views." [Roy Meredith, "Mr. Lincoln's Camera Man, Mathew B. Brady" (New York: Dover, 1974), 118.] He also traveled on the front lines with the Army of the James. [Meredith, 190.] An anecdote describes Roche's reaction to the horrors of war: after an artillery shell exploded next to him, it was said, "shaking the dust from his head and his camera he quickly moved to the spot and, placing it over the pit made by the explosion, exposed his plate as coolly as if there were no danger." [Kenneth P. Czech, "Snapshot: America Discovers the Camera" (Minneapolis: Lerner, 1996), 26.]

After the war Roche returned to work for the Anthonys, with whom he published a book on photography. [Thomas C. Roche and Henry T. Anthony, "How to Make Photographs: A Manual for Amateurs", 5th ed. (New York: E. & H. T. Anthony, 1895). In the collection of the New York Public Library.]

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External links

* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/f?fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb:0:./temp/~pp_0OpI: Roche's photographs] from the collections of the Library of Congress.