Sutro Tunnel Shaft No. 2 1875

Carleton Watkins made this albumen silver print, "Sutro Tunnel Shaft No. 2," during the height of the Western mining boom. This was a period marked by both tremendous economic opportunity and devastating environmental exploitation. Watkins's image presents a seemingly objective view of industrial progress against the backdrop of the American West. Yet, this vista is complicated when considered against the backdrop of the era's social dynamics. The mining industry depended on the labor of marginalized groups, including Chinese immigrants, who faced discrimination and dangerous working conditions. Watkins aestheticizes the scene by emphasizing the sublime beauty of the landscape. By doing so, he obscures the human cost of resource extraction. The photograph invites us to reflect on the complex relationship between landscape, labor, and capital in the making of the American West. It asks us to consider whose stories are told and whose are left out of these historical narratives.