East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography

Exhibition Website

Oct 6 2017 - Jan 7 2018

Along with Civil War images, pictures of the American West have long dominated the canon of 19th-century American landscape photography, but scant attention has been given to many of the photographers working in the eastern half of the United States. East of the Mississippi is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on this rich chapter of America’s photographic history. 175 works—including daguerreotypes, salted paper prints, albumen prints, stereo cards, and albums—show landscapes ranging from dramatic views of Niagara Falls and picturesque scenes in the White Mountains to devastated Civil War battlefields and the construction of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website


Whether you go or not,  East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography, the exhibition catalog explores the work of approximately 50 photographers, highlighting their practices and concerns. More than 180 photographs from 1839 to 1900 in a rich variety of media and formats—from daguerreotypes, salted paper prints, tintypes, cyanotypes, and albumen prints to stereo cards and photograph albums—this volume traces the evolution of eastern landscape photography and introduces the artists who explored this subject. Also considered are the dynamic ties with other media—for instance, between painters and photographers such as the Bierstadt and Moran brothers—and the distinctive development of landscape photography in America. These works also documented the impact of war, promoted tourism, and played a role in an emerging environmentalism. 

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  • Photography
  • American
  • 19th Century
  • Landscape
  • Various artists

Exhibition Venues & Dates