St. Anthony Falls 1860

Curator: Let’s consider "St. Anthony Falls," a print made through photography dating to 1860. This stunning work is housed right here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Whoa. My first thought? It’s… intense. The power just jumps right out at you, this sort of chaotic energy. So much debris in the foreground contrasting with that somewhat orderly mill structure in the back. Curator: Indeed. Upton captured this image at a crucial moment of industrial expansion. Notice how the photograph highlights the intersection of natural power – the falls themselves – with the encroaching industry of the mills. This period reveals significant tensions surrounding environmental exploitation and westward expansion, driven by narratives of manifest destiny. Editor: Absolutely. It's that very tension, the beautiful disaster, if you will. There’s this raw, almost visceral feeling seeing nature and industry wrestle like this. Makes you think about what "progress" really means. All this refuse hints at some great reckoning. It's beautiful but, gosh, there is decay there. Curator: The monochromatic presentation intensifies this sense of drama. It casts the scene in stark, unforgiving terms, underlining the weighty themes of the relentless pursuit of progress and its consequences that echo loudly across marginalized communities and landscapes. We can look into labor practices. We can see that these histories continue resonating within current climate discourse and battles for environmental justice. Editor: The choice of photography is spot-on. It grounds the image in a kind of undeniable reality. I mean, this really *happened*, this devastation, and this image bears witness to it. It is like it asks a simple question: At what cost? You feel almost as if it is just momentarily held here and now, still moving downstream towards something bigger and more dramatic. Curator: Precisely, it offers a poignant, if not uncomfortable, reflection on our relationship with the environment and the ethical implications of industrial advancement. Editor: It really does… makes me want to grab my paints and dive right into trying to recapture just a fraction of the force in this photograph. I wonder what stories are beneath that surface... Curator: And those stories are the undercurrent that flows, as in the falls themselves, with unrelenting power into the present moment. Editor: A force captured! Yes, and still, somehow...flowing still... fascinating.