Sugar Loaf Islands, Farallons 1868 - 1869

Carleton Watkins made this albumen silver print of the Farallon Islands sometime in the late 19th century. His photographs, often commissioned by corporations, enticed settlers to move west with idealized landscapes. Watkins’s images are far from neutral documents. By the time this photograph was made, San Francisco was a booming city, and the Farallon Islands had become an important site for egg harvesting, an industry that devastated the local bird populations. This photograph, however, leaves those social and economic realities out of the frame, presenting a vision of untouched natural beauty. By focusing on the landscape, Watkins's photography contributed to the myth of the American West as an unspoiled paradise, ignoring the impact of industrialization. Understanding art like this involves archival research into company records, government documents, and other historical sources to understand how photographic images are used to shape perceptions.