ISBN: 9780208025128

Photography came on the American scene at about the same time the exploration and settlement of the West were getting underway. The convergence of these processes resulted in a complex in… More...

Photography came on the American scene at about the same time the exploration and settlement of the West were getting underway. The convergence of these processes resulted in a complex interrelationship which has influenced the public perception of the frontier, its landscape, and its inhabitants from the 1840s onward.By telling the story of who the early photographers were, how they worked, and what influenced them, this book shows how their vision became our own. From the famous, such as Edward S. Curtis and William Henry Jackson, to the obscure, these man documented what they saw for a variety of purposes -- scientific, commercial, ethnological, and artistic. They often brought 19th century sensibilities to their work, and at times they manipulated subjects, scenes, or events to achieve desired effects for their employers or the folks back East. Their pictures served up to an eager audience a West that existed, but sometimes only as an idea or a vision.As this book shows, all study of the Westward Movement is in part a study of photography. The effect of this new medium on American history id undeniable, and the popular imagining of the West has been forever influenced by its images. Media ><