Mirror View of El Capitan, Yosemite 1870 - 1874

Carleton Watkins made this albumen print of Yosemite's El Capitan to document the American West. Watkins's image isn't just a neutral record; it's deeply embedded in the history of the American West and reveals a perspective tied to expansion and resource exploitation. Made in the 19th century, this photograph romanticizes the landscape, obscuring the violent displacement of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. Mirror View of El Capitan helped promote the idea of the West as a sublime, untouched wilderness ready for exploration and settlement, and it directly contributed to the institutionalization of Yosemite as a national park. To truly understand this photograph, we need to examine government documents, promotional materials, and the accounts of those who were affected by westward expansion. Only then can we fully understand the complex and often contradictory meanings embedded in this seemingly simple landscape image.