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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1869
Photograph. Title: Entrance to Weber Canon Imperial Image Description: (s599) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --... |
1869
Photograph. Title: 57 View of Machine Shops from South West (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s57) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a tree-lined street with an... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a rectangular-shaped... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a family posing in front of... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a tree-lined street with... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a waterfall running through... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a number of buildings and... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows General Casement standing... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows 2 people - one sitting and... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows two men standing between a... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows two people sitting in a... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a river winding through a... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a group of men standing in... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a woman sitting on a horse... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a man standing on a rock... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows log cabins and fenced-in... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows two buildings - one near... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a man sitting down in a... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows two men and one woman... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a man sitting under a rock... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a landscape with a tall... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a man standing next to a... |
1869
This is a single page from "The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photogrpahic Views Across the Continent" that contains an albumen print photograph.The print shows a restaurant, saloon,... |