Carleton Watkins, 1829-1916, is possibly the most famous early Western photographer. Nearly a hundred years before Ansel Adams was taking his iconic photographs, Carleton Watkins was sharing the awe-inspiring beauty of the Western United States with the world, aiding in the birth of American environmentalism, and revolutionizing landscape photography. But his life was a series of tragedies, and he died anonymous and destitute in a mental hospital.
Born in New York, he moved to California and became a photographer, soon specializing in landscape photography. He photographed much of California and Oregon, but it is his photographs of the Yosemite valley that made him famous. In 1861, Watkins set off with his mules to Yosemite. The pictures he took during this trip were some of the first views of Yosemite people in the Eastern portion of the United States had ever seen. These photographs were in part responsible for Abraham Lincoln signing an 1864 bill that declared the valley inviolable. This paved the way for the existence of the National Park system in its entirety. The bill signed by Lincoln is often seen as the beginning of environmentalism in American politics.
It’s hard to imagine what Watkins endured to make photographs: loading up a team of mules with nearly a ton of photographic equipment, including a mobile darkroom tent, a dangerous assortment of flammable chemicals, and an enormous custom-built camera that produced “mammoth” 18×22 inch glass plate negatives. The reason for such a gigantic negative was that negatives could not be enlarged back in those days, so the negative had to be the size of the print. Imagine the amount of detail in those prints!
Watkins owned a gallery where he displayed his work, but he proved to be a poor businessman, and he lost the gallery to his creditor. The new owner also took ownership of all the gallery’s contents, due to the fact that the 19th century had no copyright laws covering photographs. They sold reproductions of his pictures and there was nothing he could do. In the 1890s his health was declining and he began losing his sight. Unable to work, he and his family lived in an abandoned railroad car for a year and a half. The great earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906 destroyed his studio, and countless photographs and negatives were lost. He was declared incompetent and his daughter had him committed to a mental hospital in 1910, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was buried in an unmarked grave on the hospital grounds.
As photographers, we owe Carleton Watkins a debt of gratitude. Not only for his contributions to the world of landscape photography, but for helping preserve the beauty of the American West for future generations. One of Yosemite’s mountains is named Mount Watkins in honor of his part in preserving Yosemite Valley.
Location: Spokane, Washington
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Chip Phillips began his relationship with photography in 2006 when his father gave him his old Pentax Spotmatic film SLR camera. Chip was immediately hooked and soon made the transition to digital. Given his lifelong love of the outdoors, he naturally made the progression to focusing on landscape photography. A professionally trained classical musician, Chip also performs as Principal Clarinet with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, and is Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at Gonzaga University. Chip resides in Spokane Washington with his wife and son.
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