Andrew J. Russell
One of a handful of landscape photographers who shaped our perception of the American West in the 19th century, A. J. Russell’s work stands alongside of Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and Timothy O’Sullivan in its aesthetic power and technical virtuosity. A large group of Russell’s original glass-plate negatives are preserved in the Collection of the Oakland Museum of California.
A painter as well as photographer, Russell worked for Matthew Brady before documenting the U.S. Military Railroad as a captain during the Civil War. After the war, he secured a position as official photographer for the Union Pacific Railroad in its massive endeavor to construct a transcontinental railroad. His photographs, culminating in the iconic “Joining of the Rails” at Promontory, Utah, capture the majestic scale of western lands, the gritty enterprise of railroad building, frontier boom towns, and the effect of railroads on Native Americans.
Russell’s photographs brought the railroad, and the American West, to a mass audience. Disseminated internationally as stereo views and engravings in newspapers, and filtered through Hollywood films and even advertising, Russell’s visual style continues to influence our image of western history and mythology.
In 1969 the Oakland Museum acquired nearly 650 collodion “wet plate” negatives in both stereo and “imperial” (10 X 13 inch) formats. The original glass camera negatives were made in the field by Russell himself, making the collection unique, among major 19th century landscape photographers. The Museum also holds one of the few surviving copies of The Great West Illustrated, an album of vintage albumen prints by Russell, as well as mounted stereo views and more than 100 glass lantern slides.
Russell’s photographs illuminate powerful themes in American history: westward expansion and Manifest Destiny, the displacement of native peoples, attitudes toward landscape and the natural environment, technological history (both engineering and photographic), and the important role of art and photography in shaping and expressing cultural concerns.
For the first time, high-resolution digital scans of the original glass-plate negatives are now available for online viewing. These scans are highly detailed and rich in searchable content.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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circa 1868
Photograph. Title: 172 Brigham Canon The Old Steam Saw Mill (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate" collodion glass negative, 10"X13 ".... |
circa 1868
(46) Interior, Laramie Machine Shops. |
circa 1868
57 Rawling Hotel (Scratched on Negative). |
circa 1868
Photograph. [Two men standing on prominent outcropping] |
circa 1868
Hall's Fill near of Granite Cannon. Barren landscape."Hall was the contractor for this portion of the railroad construction" remarks per Glenn Willumson for the NEA Russell Grant, July 2013 - June... |
circa 1868
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circa 1868
Photograph. Title: No 132 Engineers Office Echo City (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate" collodion glass negative, 10"X13". Sub. Cat... |
1869
"Corrine" #499 Bank, billards, and wholesale liquor. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"#95 Windmill, Sherman Sta.; Chy 468,400 Marble." Old Number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"Summit of Black Hills #93." Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file."93. Summit Black Hills" title per Glenn Willumson for the NEA Russell Grant, July 2013 - June 2015. Titles... |
1869
"Rawlings Springs xx #150" Three engines in three doorways. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"#41 Loup River Bridge" interior view. Probable Russell photograph, stored in Russell drawer. Across the Continent. Miscellaneous Eastern U.S. In this next section, I have grouped the slides,... |
1869
"Summit sheds and tunnel #545" Old number Russell negative number. See donor file."Summit Sierra Nevadas, Snow Sheds" title per Glenn Willumson for the NEA Russell Grant, July 2013 - June 2015.... |
1869
"Rifted Rocks Black Hills."#90. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file."90. Rifted Rocks, Black Hills is derived from a stereographic glass plate negative. Lantern slide is a... |
1869
"Sedgwick" #390 Finger rock, Weber canyon. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file."This does not appear to be the stereograph [Russell number] 390. It appears to be from an... |
1869
Temple Rock, Face of. Russell 277? Across the Continent. 1. Omaha to Green R. - In wood file cabinet. In this next section, I have grouped the slides, photographer unknown, according to Sedgwick's... |
1869
Sedgwick #531. Does not correspond to Russell neg. #531. Shows engine and flat car with 7 men on Dale Creek bridge. Across the Continent. 1. Omaha to Green R. - In wood file cabinet. In this next... |
1869
"#139 Cinnamon br. Laramie" Man holding small bear. Old Number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"#315 Sedgwick" Colfax and Party at Echo City. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file.New Identification by Susan Williams 8/6/98:Individuals identified from left to right:1.... |
1869
"#96 Valley of Shadow" Showing dead, ragged trees. Old Number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"Tourists. Ripple Lake" #457. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"Sedgwick" 408 Devil's Gate Bridge. Perspective. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"Monument Rock no. 2" #308. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file. |
1869
"Sedgwick" S401 Devil's Gate Bridge. Testing Combination. Old number may be Russell negative number. See donor file."This photograph shows a train on the bridge over the Weber River at Devil's... |