Brug over de Bow, met op de achtergrond Cascade Mountain before 1897

This photogravure print of a bridge over the Bow River, with Cascade Mountain in the background, was made by Walter Dwight Wilcox. The print is of a high quality, demonstrating precise control of the etching process to render the textures of rock, water, and foliage. Photography during this period, and photogravure printmaking in particular, was a labor-intensive practice, involving specialist knowledge and skilled handiwork. The choice of this medium speaks to the desire for permanence, artistic merit, and exclusivity, distinguishing it from mass-produced images. Consider how the print's materiality and the labor involved in its creation contrast with the natural grandeur of the mountain landscape it depicts. In its time, this image would have been a powerful tool for promoting tourism and resource extraction in the Canadian Rockies. The artist’s choice of media elevated the status of the photograph, making it an object of aesthetic appreciation and a symbol of cultural authority. The value of the artwork resides not just in the image, but the labor of its making and its power within a social context.