Yosemite Valley 1870 - 1874

Carleton E. Watkins's "Yosemite Valley" (1870-1874), currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a stunning example of 19th-century landscape photography. Watkins, known for his large-format photographs of the American West, captured the grandeur of Yosemite National Park with meticulous detail. The image showcases the valley's towering granite cliffs, cascading waterfalls, and dense forest, emphasizing the awe-inspiring scale of the natural world. Watkins's use of a panoramic format and sharp focus further enhances the visual impact, drawing viewers into the vastness of the landscape. This photograph helped to solidify Yosemite's status as a national treasure and contributed to the growing interest in preserving wild spaces for future generations.