[.uk] Carleton Watkins (ISBN 0810941023)

Amazon.com Review:
Victorian landscape photographer Carleton Watkins (1829-1916) described his lifelong project in simple terms: to find "the best spot with the best view." However, this self-trained but precocious man, who seemed to delight in giving away much of the work he produced, is now considered one of the most gifted American photographers of the 19th century. Perhaps best known for his pictures of the then newly discovered scenic wonder Yosemite, Watkins made thousands of remarkable, sophisticated, and historically important images that provide an unparalleled visual record of the western United States. In his spectacular depictions of the West Coast's natural resources and the industrial outposts nested within them by way of the California Gold Rush and the Central and Southern Pacific Railroads, Watkins captured the sense of adventure and expansionist enthusiasm of the mid-1800s American imagination. In the photo Sugar Loaf Islands, Farallons, the combination of grand scale and lush detail draws the viewer into an arresting image in which a single jagged rock emerges from a smoky mist. Only upon closer inspection does one discover that the shiny pebbles at its base are actually about a hundred glistening seals who loll along the beach of a mammoth island. Throughout his 50-year career, Watkins traveled tirelessly under adverse conditions to remote sites, often by mule. He carried cumbersome equipment, including his giant camera, which was custom-made by a cabinetmaker. And he secured his hard-earned images on fragile glass-plate negatives. Watkins's adventuring laid the groundwork for his pioneering in the nascent art and technique of photography. His work commanded wonder and respect from large audiences on both coasts, and the sheer beauty of his pictures helped set a national policy of scenic conservation that preceded the present system of national parks. Carleton Watkins: The Art of Perception is a companion volume to the first large-scale exhibition to look at this photographer's work from a critical, art-historical perspective. The show originates at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and travels to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through the year 2000. Produced using state-of-the-art tritone printing, this catalog includes 125 of Watkins's best images--stereo cards and multipart panoramic works among them. Accompanying the photographs are compelling and informative essays by Douglas Nickel, associate curator of photography at SFMOMA, and Maria Morris Hambourg, curator in charge of the Department of Photographs at the Met, as well as Peter E. Palmquist's notes on the plates, a list of selected references, and a chronology. --A.C. Smith

Beautiful Well Researched Needed Resource:
Carleton Watkins is an overlooked figure in the history of American photography--Artistically we could not have wanted for more in someone recording the "wilds" of the West. Beautiful photographs of San Francisco and the Northwest's industrial beginnings, and timeless representation of Yosemite's natural wonder.

Breathtaking visuals in this Collection:
Carleton Watkins's fifty-some year career has left him recognition as one the greatest American photographers of the nineteenth century. The photographs shown in The Art of Perception clearly show why. Without saying Watkins was ahead of his time because of the sophisticating and arresting images he produced with a camera, it can be said that few, if any, of his contemporaries could rival his work. In the Art of Perception, the reader will have the privelage to be psychologically compelled by the world from the visual standpoint of this obscure individual. In this book, Watkins's innovation as a photographer shows the developing western world while at the same time creating an unparalleled visual experience for the viewers through more than one-hundred of his best photos, including some never-before seen or reproduced. Essays by Douglas R. Nickel also explain some of the subjects and objects that Watkins researched and photographed. Travelling through the western United States, Watkins captured some of the most breathtaking pictures of Yosemite, San Francisco, the Sierra Nevada, and more. In my personal opinion, it is almost impossible to dislike any of the pictures collected in The Art of Perception. I must admit, however, that I have a personal taste for landscapes and documentary style photos of young America's development, especially ones as lush in detail as Watkins's are. More than anything, I loved the photographs that Watkins shot showing nature alone, untouched by any progression of America's buildup. As the viewer, it is impossible to prepare for the overwhelming rush from the elevated sensation of visual contingency created by Watkins's vision. Watkins's work not only captured my attention for these simple facts, but also educated me in the importance of the man as a very important historical figure in recording the growth of young American and as an innovator for the way we view photography today.