PHOTOGRAPHS
Jackson, William Henry
U.S. (1843 - 1942)
Castle and Bee Hive Geysers
c. 1880
Albumen print
5 x 8 1/8 in. (12.7 x 20.7 cm) image and sheet size;10 x 11 1/4 in. (25.4 x 28.6 cm) mount board size
Monsen Study Collection of Photography, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen
FA 83.27

William Henry Jackson was one of the most important early photographers of the West and is best known for the work he did with the geological surveys of the 1860s and 1870s. Formed of natural scientists, topographers, anthropologists, military engineers, and artists, these teams recorded the new American frontier and provided the first scientifically laid-out maps. The invention of photography (1832) and its prolific use in documenting the West after 1850 was a key element in the development of the American image of the West. Many of Jackson’s photographs helped influence Congress to declare Yellowstone and Yosemite as national parks. To obtain this photograph, Jackson used a mammoth-plate camera, and traveled over primitive trails in a wagon converted into a darkroom and studio. He carried with him camera, trays, scale, chemicals, distilled water, and large glass plates. In this portable darkroom he transformed the glass into light-sensitive plates and later developed them. These plates had to be fixed, washed and dried over an alcohol lamp all within minutes of the exposure.

-- Label copy for Shifting Ground: Transformed Views of the American Landscape, February 10 to August 20, 2000.