Niagara Falls c. 1890

This albumen print of Niagara Falls was made by George Barker, an American photographer, in the late nineteenth century. At this time, photography was rapidly changing from a niche practice into a popular industry. Barker was one of the first photographers to focus on landscape views and built a successful business by selling images of the Falls to tourists. The image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. In this period, the vastness and sublimity of the American landscape was seen as a symbol of the nation's ambition and potential. Barker made good use of the popular taste for such imagery, showing both the Falls themselves and also the various viewing platforms and steamboats that allowed people to experience the scene. His focus was both aesthetic and commercial. To better understand such images, one might turn to tourist accounts of the period, histories of photography, and also analyses of the environmental impact of the burgeoning tourist trade. Approaching art from a social and institutional perspective allows us to explore the complex relationships between aesthetics, commerce, and culture.