Gezicht op een man naast een gletsjerspleet van de Muirgletsjer before 1890

William Henry Partridge captured this image of a man alongside a crevasse on the Muir Glacier, likely in the late 19th century when photography was being used to document the natural world. The lone figure, dwarfed by the immensity of the ice, evokes the romantic idea of the sublime, where nature's grandeur inspires awe and a sense of human insignificance. But I can’t help but think about the narratives that are *not* pictured here. Indigenous communities have lived alongside these landscapes for millennia. Where are they in this picture? How were they affected by the arrival of figures like this man, who is most likely part of a scientific expedition? This image reflects a particular gaze, one that frames the landscape as an object of scientific study and aesthetic contemplation, often obscuring the complex histories of human interaction and environmental change. It reminds us to consider whose stories are being told.