San Francisco 1864

Carleton E. Watkins's "San Francisco" (1864) captures a sweeping view of the burgeoning city from a high vantage point, showcasing the grid-like layout of streets and the dense, hilly topography. This photographic print exemplifies Watkins's mastery of the wet-collodion process, a technique he pioneered to capture breathtaking landscapes of the American West. "San Francisco" is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a testament to the enduring power of Watkins's documentation of the changing landscape of the Golden State.