Colorado Midland
1996
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 19 × 24.3 cm (7 1/2 × 9 9/16 in.) mount: 40.6 × 50.7 cm (16 × 19 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of John Divola
Accession Number
2016.50.7
Art Historical Context
**Colorado Midland**, a captivating gelatin silver print by contemporary photographer Mark Ruwedel captures the haunting remnants of human ambition etched into the American landscape. Created in 1996, this 19 × 24.3 cm image, elegantly mounted to 40.6 × 50.7 cm, hails from the National Gallery of Art's Department of Contemporary Photographs (CPH). Gifted by fellow artist John Divola, it Ruwedel's signature of documenting overlooked traces of history—often abandoned railroads—in stark, black-and-white precision. The title nods to the Colorado Midland Railway, a pioneering narrow-gauge line bui...
About the Artist
Mark Ruwedel
Mark Ruwedel, born on June 11, 1954, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, initially pursued painting, earning a BFA from Kutztown State College in 1978. He transitioned to photography during this time, later obtaining an MFA from Concordia University in Montreal in 1983. Working as a custom printer in Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1980 honed his technical skills before he relocated to Canada, where he taught a...