No. 193a. Old Ponton Bridge at Prairie du chien, Wisconsin 1885

This cyanotype print of the “Old Ponton Bridge at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin” was made by Henry P. Bosse at an unknown date. Bosse, trained as a civil engineer, worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers, documenting the Mississippi River. The image is striking in its sharp focus and monochromatic tone. Cyanotype, a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print, was a relatively inexpensive method that lent itself to technical and scientific reproduction. Yet in Bosse’s hands, the process becomes artful. Bosse's unique blend of technical skill and aesthetic sensibility challenges conventional notions of documentary photography. While the photograph records the landscape and the Ponton Bridge, it also offers a glimpse into the transformative power of human intervention on the natural world. There is a sense of melancholy to the image; the long bridge stretching across the water evokes both connection and distance. It quietly prompts reflection on themes of progress, change, and the enduring presence of the past in the American landscape.