Carleton E, Watkins was a true pioneer. He was one of the leaders in photographing hard-to-reach parts of the American West and his pictures played a major role in the development of the federal parks system. Despite the rigors of travel Watkins also made advances in photographic processes and camera design. Most significantly Watkins was a leader in elevating landscape photography to an art and his influence was felt for generations. Like many pioneers Watkins was engaged in sending back reports that encouraged others to follow. In his case the popular photographs helped shape the prevailing view of the West as a place "to find freedom and to escape the constraint and congestion of urban living." In one respect, however, Watkins was not a pioneer. Sadly, after decades of hard work and international acclaim, Watkins, like too many artists before him, died blind, broken, and alone in a California state hospital. A study of Watkins' career will place his work in the context of his attempts to professionalize photography while simultaneously raising it to the status of a fine art.
Watkins was born in Oneonta, New York in 1829 and in 1851 he "left home for excitement and opportunity on the Golden Shore." Watkins came to photography accidentally when in San Jose, California he took over for a gallery photographer who had suddenly left his job. He liked the work and was kept on. This was in 1854 and by 1861 Watkins had his own studio. He had decided against offering traditional gallery portraits, usually a sure source of business, and had gone into the riskier area of "town and field photography." But Watkins began with some excellent commissions in the new field of providing photographic evidence in land-fraud cases. By late 1861 Watkins made his first trip to Yosemite. His work was subsequently noticed by the California State Geological Survey and Watkins became an important member of their group.
The surface det...