Keppler's cascades before 1891

Frank Jay Haynes captured "Keppler's Cascades" in a photograph during a time when the American West was being both romanticized and industrialized. As a commercial photographer, Haynes played a significant role in shaping perceptions of the Western landscape. His images often highlighted the grandeur of nature, but they also promoted tourism and resource extraction which had devastating consequences for Indigenous communities and the environment. In this photograph, the cascade is framed in a way that emphasizes its sublime beauty, almost untouched by civilization. Yet, the very act of photographing and circulating such images contributed to the transformation of these landscapes into commodities. It raises questions about whose vision of beauty is being centered and whose stories are being erased. The cascade's powerful flow is echoed by the complex currents of history and representation.