How Photography Won the West
A new anthology on national parks reflects the artist's role in protecting America's most pristine landscapes.
The rise of America's national parks isinterwined with the adventof popular photography.In a 19th-century worlddevoid of motorized transportation,the only vehicle tothe country’s natural treasures was through aphotographer's lens. The portraitsbroughtthe openness of thewestern frontier to the East Coast tenements, sparking the public's desireto preserve the American wilderness.
Jamie Allen chronicles thisage-old relationshipin her new book,. By juxtaposingimages that span multiplegenerations, she explores the covergance of art andconservation history. Fromthe “pure” and “straight” stills of Ansel Adams, to the digital landscapes of today, Allen points out that photographsare intricate threads that shape howsociety views the natural world.
The movement itselfcan be traced back tothe pages of Hutchings’ California Magazine. Between October 1859 andMarch 1860, the publication ran the "The Great Yo-Semite Valley,"a four-part photo series by Charles Leander Weed that was only circulatedas stereographs. In the end, Weed received no credit for the images. A year later,the high-quality,mammoth-sizedplatescreated byCarleton Watkinsspurred national intrigue inthe Yosemite Valley.Both sets of portraits becameso popular that they were eventually usedto inspireCongress to protect the region. It was the start of a deep alliance between photographers and environmentalists, one that's still celebrated and tried today.
Picturing America's National Parks, by Jamie M. Allen and the George Eastman Museum, Aperture, 160pages, $40. Buy it at .