Westward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way: 19th Century Painters and Photographers

Andrew Russell, Meeting of the Rails, Promontory Summit, Utah, 1869

In the second week of student led presentations, our subject was nineteenth century photography and all the technology that came along with it. In Anderson’s article she wrote about the many artists, both photographers and painters who traveled west to create representations of the wilderness of the West. She also discussed how the invention of the railroad and the artworks created in this time inspired Americans to move and visit the West. Adams, a contemporary black and white photographer, compares the works of the greats like O’Sullivan to the West today. Through this, he covers the impact of light, loss of simple space, and overall land use. Rebecca Solnit’s book discussed the early life and innovative studies of Eadweard Muybridge, and the colossal and historical improvement that railroads gave to the United States in the 1800s.

Carleton Watkins, Cape Horn, near Celilo (Oregon), 1867

In our class discussion, we began with questions about how technology developments have made the world feel smaller. Students remarked on how railroads in their day, and cars in our have dramatically changed the way that we get to these places out West. They are more accessible and much easier to get to, but a student also remarked that these things are merely just tools of a bigger change. That change allowed for new lives, jobs, and opportunities within the untouched land.

Albert Bierstadt, The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, 1863

People were attracted to the West by the paintings that such as Bierstadt and Moran. These paintings were basically advertisements for the West, with canyons and large trees that weren’t found in the East. The photographs of the Muybridge showed a more realistic side of the West, which may have been less desirable. We talked about the morality more realistic images in paintings and photographs back then of not. This in comparison to how we use art now, which brought up the difference between photojournalism and photography for the fine arts. The main difference is that fine art photography has gained the reputation for being a more manipulative process and thus seen as untrustworthy. The opposite can be said for photojournalism, and this is a concern for when these are combined.

Loggers cutting down a sequoia in 1917

The last thing we discussed is how many people made the change to move West and adapt to a different lifestyle. It was not a cheap or easy way to live considering that the first settlers knew it would be an unsuitable place for large cities. The idea of this led to the conversation about how this change became destructive to the land. Now that we have seen what development has done, people are faced with looking for alternative means to sustainable living. We conversed most passionately in final part of our discussion which addressed the need for a more eco-friendly way of life, such as recycling and the oil corporation.

Jacob Bobeck, Krystlyn Lee, & Gabby O’Neal

Articles: “The Kiss of Enterprise” by Nancy K. Anderson, “In the Nineteenth Century West” by Robert Adams, River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit