Limestone Walls Kanab Wash, Colorado River
1872
Medium
Albumen print
Dimensions
Image/paper: 27.6 × 20.1 cm (10 7/8 × 7 15/16 in.); Album page: 49.7 × 38.1 cm (19 5/8 × 15 in.)
Classification
albumen print from collodion negative
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
181340
Art Historical Context
William H. Bell's *Limestone Walls, Kanab Wash, Colorado River* (1872) captures the raw majesty of the American Southwest during a pivotal era of exploration. As official photographer for John Wesley's second expedition down the Colorado River (187–72), Bell documented the uncharted canyons of the Grand Canyon region, including the dramatic limestone formations along Kanab, a tributary in what is now northern Arizona. This albumen print, measuring about 10 7/8 × 7 15/16 inches, offers visitors a window into the 19th-century push westward, when such images helped shape national perceptions of A...