View down Black Cañon, from Mirror Bar. The walls repeated by reflection, No. 3 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 9.3 × 7.5 cm (3 11/16 × 3 in.); Card: 10 × 17.8 cm (3 15/16 × 7 1/16 in.)
Classification
stereograph (albumen)
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
210784
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic depths of Cañon with Timothyullivan's *View down Black Cañon, from Mirror Bar* (1871), the third image in his series *Geographical Explorations and Surveys West the 100th Meridian Captured during Clarence King's ambitious U.S. government expedition to map the American West, this albumen stereograph documents the rugged Colorado River gorge, where towering canyon walls are mirrored in the calm waters below, creating a mesmerizing of natural forms. O'Sullivan, a Civil War veteran turned pioneering photographer, ventured into remote terrains to visually chronicle these scie...
About the Artist
Timothy O'Sullivan · 1840–1882
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) emerged as one of America's pioneering photographers during a transformative era. His early life remains sparsely documented, with records suggesting he was born either in New York City or Ireland before immigrating young, possibly growing up on Staten Island. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at his Fulton Street gallery in New York, mastering w...