Andrew J. Russell

Andrew Joseph Russell (1830 – 1902)

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. National Endowment for the Arts

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Passenger Train at Corinne
1869

Photograph. Title: Passenger train at Corinne Image Description: (s511) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads...

Montana Street, Corinne
1869

Photograph. Title: Montana Street Corinne Image Description: (s499) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads.

Mormon Residence, Parley's Park with Indian on Horseback
1869

Photograph. Title: Mormon Residence Parley's Park with Indian on Horseback Image Description: (s466) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat...

Miners Residence, Bingham Canyon
1869

Photograph. Title: Miners Residence Bingham Canyon Image Description: (s485) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Rapids of the Weber, Instantaneous View
1869

Photograph. Title: Rapids of the Weber Instantaneous view Image Description: (s423) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation...

Loup Fork Bridge, Interior
1869

Photograph. Title: 41 South Fork Bridge interior 41 (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (41) Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5"X8". Sub. Cat...

Distant View, Grand Island
1869

Photograph. Title: 46 Distant view Grand Island (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s46) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5"X8". Sub...

Dan Casement, Echo
1869

Photograph. Title: Dan Casement, Echo Image Description: (s331) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads. Remarks...

Machine Shops, Omaha, from Lumberyard
1869

Photograph. Title: 29 Machine Shops Omaha from Lumberyard (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s29) See title. . Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5...

Salt Lake Valley, Artists' Camp
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: (s172) Camp Site, tents and men. Possible title: Slat L. Val. - Artist's Camp (Salt Lake Valley). Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass...

Great Trestle Work, Promontory
1869

Photograph. Title: Great Trestle Work Promentory (sic) Imperial size Image Description: (s525) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

Caves at Promontory
1869

Photograph. Title: Over hanging Cliffs Promentory Caves Promentory (sic) Image Description: (s526) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

[Great Trestle near Tunnel No. 2]
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: (s228) Men on trestle under construction. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads....

Round Houses, Wasatch
1869

Photograph. Title: 216 Round Houses Wasatch (scratched on negative) Image Description: (s216) See title. Three engines in round house. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass...

Sacramento Machine Shops
1869

Photograph. Title: Sacramento Machine Shops Image Description: (s568) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads.

[Monument Rock, Echo Canyon]
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: Monument Rock, Echo Canyon (s310) Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads.

Echo Canyon, Looking East
1869

Photograph. Title: Echo Canon looking East. Image Description: (s293) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads...

Lookout Peak, Black Hills
1869

Photograph. Title: 91 Lookout Peak Black Hills (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s91) See title. Snow on ground. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5...

Bridge 32, Weber
1869

Photograph. Title: No 187 Bridge 32 Weber (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. See also 69.459.1999.. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate" collodion glass negative, 10"...

Devil's Gate Bridge, Looking at the River
1869

Photograph. Title: Devil's Gate Bridge looking at the river Image Description: (s410) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation...

From Slate Point, Looking Down the Weber
1869

Photograph. Title: From Slate Point Looking down the Weber Image Description: (s382) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation...

1000 Mile Tree, Looking North
1869

Photograph. Title: 1000 Mile Tree, looking North Image Description: (s367) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Rifted Rock, Black Hills
1869

Photograph. Title: 90 Rifted Rock Black Hills (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s90) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5"X8". Sub...

Looking down Weber Canyon from Slate Point
1869

Photograph. Title: No 186 Looking down Weber Cannon from Slate Point (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. Rail bridge over river. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate"...

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