Volcanic Ridge, Trinity Mountains, Nevada 1867

Timothy O'Sullivan made this photograph, titled "Volcanic Ridge, Trinity Mountains, Nevada," using a wet plate collodion process. The image captures a striking geological formation. Look closely, and you'll notice the stark contrast between the jagged, angular rocks in the foreground and the softer, more distant mountain range. The process itself, wet plate collodion, was painstaking. It involved coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. This meant that O'Sullivan had to carry a portable darkroom with him into the field. The tonal range, from the deep blacks to the soft grays, gives the rocks a tactile quality. The photograph's clarity allows us to appreciate the geological forces that shaped this landscape, and the labor and technology that went into making it. O’Sullivan’s image challenges the idea of photography as a purely documentary medium. It also demonstrates how the industrial processes of image-making are aligned with a wider social context and aesthetic vision.