Fissure Vent at Steamboat Springs, Nevada 1867

This photograph of a fissure vent at Steamboat Springs, Nevada, was captured by Timothy O'Sullivan in the late 19th century, using the wet collodion process. The process itself is crucial to understanding this image. O'Sullivan had to coat a glass plate with chemicals, expose it in the camera while still wet, and then develop it immediately. This demanded a portable darkroom, logistical planning, and physical labor. The resulting albumen print, made from a glass negative, has a distinctive tonal range, capturing the stark Nevada landscape. The image is not just a document but also an artifact of a specific time and place. O'Sullivan was part of a survey team, mapping the American West for resource extraction. His photographs, therefore, are tied to wider social issues of expansion, labor, and the consumption of natural resources. The very act of making this image was embedded in the economic and political context of westward expansion. Thinking about materials, making, and context allows us to appreciate the photograph's full meaning, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and historical documentation.