Iron Muse - Photographing the Transcontinental Railroad

1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-0-520-27094-7
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 254 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 250 mm, Gewicht: 666 g

The construction of the transcontinental railroad (1865–1869) marked a milestone in United States history, symbolizing both the joining of the country’s two coasts and the taming of its frontier wilderness by modern technology. But it was through the power of images—and especially the photograph—that the railroad attained its iconic status. Iron Muse provides a unique look at the production, distribution, and publication of images of the transcontinental railroad: from their use as an official record by the railroad corporations, to their reproduction in the illustrated press and travel guides, and finally to their adaptation to direct sales and albums in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Tracing the complex relationships and occasional conflicts between photographer, publisher, and curator as they crafted the photographs’ different meanings over time, Willumson provides a comprehensive portrayal of the creation and evolution of an important slice of American visual culture.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Willumson, Glenn

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Fotografie Besondere Themen und Arten der Fotografie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Fotografie Fotografie: Geschichte und Sammlungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Preparing the Ground
2. Making the Photographs
3. Curating the Archive
4. Reproducing the Image

Epilogue

Notes
Selected Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Glenn Willumson is Director of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies and Professor of Art History at the University of Florida.