Gezicht op een goudmijn te Californië before 1905

This is Farraud's "Gezicht op een goudmijn te Californië", a print of a photograph of a gold mine in California, published sometime in the 19th century. The California Gold Rush, beginning in 1848, dramatically reshaped the social fabric of the region, marked by migration, displacement, and exploitation. This image, likely produced for European audiences, captures a romanticized vision of the gold mine, absent of the harsh realities faced by its laborers. It’s impossible to ignore the racial and economic dimensions inherent to such a scene. The representation of the landscape as a site of extraction conveniently overlooks the displacement of indigenous populations and the exploitation of immigrant workers, particularly Chinese laborers, who faced discrimination and violence in the mines. The pursuit of gold was not merely an economic venture; it was deeply entwined with narratives of manifest destiny and white supremacy. Consider how images like these contributed to a skewed perception of progress, one that obscures the profound human cost of the era.