Yosemite : a collection of views

The New York Public Library is now offering grab-and-go service at 50 locations as part of our gradual reopening. Find a location near you, and learn about our remote resources.

Home

Search Browse About

Items Collections Divisions

Digital Collections Using Images Using Data

About Filters

Collection Data

Names: Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916 (Photographer)
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1861 - 1866
Library locations: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection; Shelf locator: MFZ+++ (Watkins) 82-388
Topics: Yosemite Valley (Calif.); Yosemite National Park (Calif.); National parks and reserves
Genres: Photographs
Notes: Statement of responsibility: C.E. Watkins.; Content: 46 albumen prints (2 are duplicates) approx. 400 x 525 mm. 36 are signed "C.E. Watkins", 10 are numbered, titled and signed "Taber Photo. San Francisco"; Biographical/historical: With the birth of photography in 1839, cameras began to accompany explorers everywhere, including the American west. However, technical shortcomings required skilled draughtsmen to translate the earliest camera images into conventional reproductive prints for publication or distribution. Not until the 1860s was the first practical paper photographs of the West achieved by rival camera artists Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) and Charles L. Weed (1824-1903). Their mammoth albumen prints of California's Yosemite Valley were exhibited and published internationally, introducing the grandeur of the West, and its otherworldliness, with the realism granted by photography.
Physical Description: Extent: 46 leaves : all ill. ; 73 x 58 x 7 cm; Albumen prints
Type of Resource: Still image
Identifiers: NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b10751683; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): f00f5a10-c6c0-012f-a3dd-58d385a7bc34