P3D Carleton Watkins exhibit

["Dory, Thomas S" <thomas.s.dory@xxxxxxxxx>]

I read in the Phoenix newspaper about an exhibit at the National Gallery of
Art in Washington D.C. until May 27ht. The exhibit will cover the work of
the early landscape photographer, Carleton Watkins. He created stunning
stereoviews of the West in the mid to late 1800s. The exhibit will feature
four antique stereo viewing cabinets and a selection of his views. The
article also mentions interactive computer terminals showing some additional
stereoviews.

Most of Watkins images were made using a wet collodion plate. Exposure and
development must take place before the glass plate dried, usually less than
an hour. That means not only did he have to carry all his camera equipment
around in wagon in the remote Western U.S., but his dark room came along
also. 

The article reports that Watkins images sold well and helped influence
President Lincoln to sign a law protecting Yosemite from commercial
development. But he was a poor business man. Much of his work was lost in
the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. He died in 1916 in the Napa State
Asylum for the Insane and was buried in an unmarked grave on the grounds. 


tom dory
thoams.s.dory@xxxxxxxxx