Minneapolis 1857

Benjamin Franklin Upton created this photograph of Minneapolis sometime in the 19th century. The picture encapsulates a moment of significant change, reflecting both the city's rapid expansion and the displacement of its original inhabitants. Notice how the landscape is in the process of being overwritten; the natural world giving way to structures of industry and commerce. Upton's lens captures the transition with an objective eye, yet the undercurrents of progress and dispossession are palpable. What does it mean to witness the transformation of a landscape and a society through a photograph? How do we reconcile the narrative of progress with the erasure of Indigenous presence and culture? The emotional weight of this photograph lies not only in what it shows, but also in what it omits. The untold stories of those whose lives were irrevocably altered by the city's growth. It serves as a reminder that behind every image of progress, there are shadows of displacement and loss.