Lemon's Peak, Utah c. 1870

Curator: John K. Hillers captured this photogravure, "Lemon's Peak, Utah." What strikes you first? Editor: The tonal range, that sepia wash, lends it a dreamlike quality. The composition draws the eye into the distance, but the stark contrast is quite affecting. Curator: Hillers was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey, documenting the American West. His work shaped perceptions of westward expansion. Editor: The texture of the rocks, the way the light catches the water…it’s almost tactile. It’s clearly striving for a romantic sublime. Curator: Indeed. But note how landscape photography also served colonial interests, framing the land for resource extraction and settlement. Editor: Still, Hillers’ tonal gradations capture a fleeting moment, a specific light... transcending mere documentation. Curator: A tension between objective record and subjective experience, perhaps? Editor: Precisely. It’s in the subtle interplay.