Crooked Pillar, near Sugar Bowl, No. 285 from the series "In and About the Dells of the Wisconsin River"
1870/1908
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 8 × 7.4 cm (3 3/16 × 2 15/16 in.); Card: 8.8 × 17.7 cm (3 1/2 × 7 in.)
Classification
photography
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
197948
Art Historical Context
Henry Hamilton Bennett’s “Crooked Pillar, near Sugar Bowl” captures a striking rock formation in Wisconsin’s famed Dells, part of his extensive series “In and About the Dells of the Wisconsin River.” Active from the 1860s onward, Bennett became one of the region’s most celebrated photographers, documenting its dramatic sandstone cliffs and waterways at a time when the area was emerging as a popular tourist destination. His images helped shape public perceptions of the American Midwest as a place of natural wonder. This albumen-print stereoview, produced between 1870 and 1908, consists of two ...
About the Artist
Henry Hamilton Bennett · 1843–1908
Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843–1908) was a pioneering American photographer whose breathtaking images of the Wisconsin Dells transformed a rugged river gorge into one of the nation's premier tourist destinations. Born in Farnham, Quebec, Canada, on January 15, 1843, Bennett moved with his family to Brattleboro, Vermont, before settling in Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells), Wisconsin, in 1857 at ag...