Gezicht op de Yosemitewaterval vanaf Sentinel Dome before 1868

Carleton Watkins captured this albumen print, "View of the Yosemite Falls from Sentinel Dome" in the 19th century, a period marked by the Western world's fascination with the sublime power of nature. Here, the waterfall isn't just a cascade of water, it's a symbol of nature's overwhelming force, an echo of the deluge from ancient flood myths, like the story of Noah. The trees in the foreground, dwarfed by the landscape, remind us of humanity’s smallness in the face of nature's grandeur. It is a motif of human insignificance we’ve seen echoed through art history, from the Romantic painters of the 1800s to the nature photography of today. This theme of nature's vastness touches a deep chord in the human psyche, reflecting both our reverence for and fear of forces beyond our control. This visual vocabulary is cyclical, reappearing across epochs, proving that the emotional impact of these natural symbols persists, shaping our collective consciousness.