Marble Cañon 1872

Curator: This is William Bell's "Marble Cañon," a stereograph from around 1872. The albumen print, mounted on cardstock, offers a view deep into a canyon. Editor: The sepia tones lend it such an antiquated, almost dreamlike quality. I can almost feel the heat and the grit of the canyon just by looking at it. Curator: Indeed. The material elements are key here. This was part of the Wheeler Survey, documenting the American West. The production of these images became a tool for resource exploitation. Editor: Right, and looking through a critical lens, we have to consider the impact of these surveys on Indigenous communities. The very act of documentation facilitated westward expansion and dispossession. Curator: Exactly, and consider the labor involved in creating these images, the transportation of bulky equipment, and the social context in which this exploration took place. Editor: Considering all of that, I see this work as both a beautiful vista and a complicated document of Manifest Destiny. Curator: Precisely. It prompts reflection on the intricate interplay between art, history, and the ever-changing landscape.