Black Cañon, Colorado River, from Camp 8, Looking Above
Medium
Albumen print, from the album "Geographical & Geological Explorations & Surveys West of the 100th Meridian," vol. 1
Dimensions
Image/paper: 20.3 × 27.6 cm (8 × 10 7/8 in.); Mount: 39.3 × 50 cm (15 1/2 × 19 11/16 in.)
Classification
albumen silver print
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
140424
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic vistas of the American West with Timothy O'Sullivan's *Black Cañon, Colorado River from Camp 8, Above* (1871). Captured during Lieutenant George Wheeler's Geographical & Geological Explorations & West of the 100th Meridian, this albumen silver print showcases O'Sullivan's masterful eye for the untamed landscape. From a vantage at Camp 8, the image gazes upward into the sheer, shadowed cliffs of Black Cañon, revealing the River's raw power carving through ancient rock—a testament to the era's push to map and claim the frontier. As a key figure in 19th-century topographic...
About the Artist
Timothy O'Sullivan · 1840–1882
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) emerged as one of America's pioneering photographers during a transformative era. His early life remains sparsely documented, with records suggesting he was born either in New York City or Ireland before immigrating young, possibly growing up on Staten Island. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at his Fulton Street gallery in New York, mastering w...