Badlands on the Wind River, Wyoming c. 1860s

Editor: This photograph, "Badlands on the Wind River, Wyoming" by William Henry Jackson, it's so stark. The landscape feels both ancient and fragile. What strikes you most about this image? Curator: I see a landscape shaped by powerful forces, both natural and societal. Jackson was hired to document the West, bolstering claims of Manifest Destiny. But this image also unwittingly captures the vulnerability of this land, doesn't it? The very geological processes that created this beauty are intertwined with histories of displacement and exploitation. How do we reconcile that? Editor: That's a complex perspective. I hadn't considered the role of photography in those political narratives. Curator: Exactly! It challenges us to question whose stories are being told, and whose are being erased, in these seemingly objective depictions. Photography, like any medium, is never neutral. Editor: I'll definitely look at landscape photography differently from now on. Thanks!