Mirror Lake and Reflections, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, California
1865
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Charles T. Isaacs
Accession Number
1994.89.5
Tags
About this artwork
Like Carleton Watkins, his better-known competitor, Charles Weed recognized the pictorial dividend to be gained by showing Yosemiteâs glorious geological features in duplicate, using the valleyâs lakes as reflecting ponds. Weed first traveled to what was then known as âYo-Semite,â in 1859, but with a relatively small camera. He returned in 1865 with a larger model capable of using what were called mammoth plates. Like Watkins, he sold his prints to buyers eager to own a photograph of maj...