The Big Log Cannon in the Petrified Forest
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1994.91.273
Tags
Art Historical Context
Adam Clark Vroman’s 1895 photoprint, *The Big Log Cannon in the Petrified Forest*, captures a striking formation of petrified wood in what is now Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. Vroman, a noted photographer of the American Southwest, documented the region’s dramatic landscapes geological wonders during a time when photography was rapidly advancing as a tool for exploration and preservation. The image highlights a massive, cannon-shaped log turned to stone, emphasizing the ancient processes that transformed living trees into colorful mineral fossils over millions of years. Created j...