A predecessor to the more celebrated Ansel Adams, Western landscape photographer Carleton Watkins is known for his large-format, scenic portrayals of Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada, and the Oregon Coast. In this analysis of ten selected photographs from Stanford University’s Special Collections archive, Alice Wilson considers Watkins’ visual expression as a documentarian and interpreter of the West during the period 1850 to 1875.
While Watkins images the majesty of Western landscape, he also records its environmental degradation. Wilson argues that Watkins’ innovative photography complicates the romantic portrayal of the American West by landscape painters of the time, suggesting that human use of natural resources may threaten the environment, and positioning Watkins among early advocates for conservation.
Small Bites and refreshments will be served. All ticketed guests will receive complimentary archival image postcards from the museum’s gift shop.