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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Salt Lake from the Wasatch Mountains, No. 3
1869

Photograph. Title: 216 Salt Lake from the Wasatch Mountains No 3 (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. Panorama following river. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate"...

Salt Lake City, Panoramic No. 1 from Wasatch Mountains
1869

Photograph. Title: No 215 Salt Lake City Panoramic No 1 from Wasatch Mts (Scratched on negative) Image Description: See title. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate" collodion glass...

Pillars of Hercules, Church Buttes
1869

Photograph. Title: 202 Pilliars (sic) of Hercules, Buttes (scratched on negative) Image Description: (s202) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub...

Old Tower, Church Buttes
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: (s201) Old Tower Church Buttes. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads. Remarks:...

Hydraulic Gold Mining, California
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: (231) Hydraulic Gold Mining, California. Physical Description: "Imperial Plate" collodion glass negative, 10"X13 ". Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

[Boarding House Cavern, Promontory]
1869

Photograph. Title: Boarding House Promentory (sic) Image Description: (s530) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Frost and Morton
1869

Photograph. Title: Frost & Morton Image Description: (s589) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads.

Temple Rock, Echo, Looking East
1869

Photograph. Title: Temple Rock Echo looking East Image Description: (s277) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Looking across Weber Canyon from an Elevation of 3000 Feet
1869

Photograph. Title: Looking across Weber Canon from an elevation of 3000 ft. Image Description: (s440) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

Street Scene, Omaha from Heights
1869

Photograph. Title: 10 Street Scene Omaha from Heights (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s10) See title. Residential area. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate...

Tourists Encamped on Ripple Lake, Uinta Mountains
1869

Photograph. Title: Tourists Encamped on Ripple Lake Uintah Mts. Image Description: (s457) see Title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

Salt Flats from Salsbury Cut, Promontory
1869

Photograph. Title: Salt Flats from Salsbury Cut Promentory (sic) Image Description: (s519) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

Ferry across Bear River at Corinne
1869

Photograph. Title: Ferry across Bear River at Corinne Image Description: (s506) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Looking Down the Weber from Stone Quarry
1869

Photograph. Title: Looking down the Weber from Stone querry Image Description: (s381) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation...

Wilhelmina Pass from Stone Quarry
1869

Photograph. Title: Wilhelmina Pass from Stone Quarry Image Description: (s366) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Looking West from Strawberry Ford
1869

Photograph. Title: Looking West from Strawberry Ford Image Description: (s399) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation --...

Front of Hotel, North Platte Station
1869

Photograph. Title: 58 Front of Hotel North Platte Station (Scratched on negative) Image Description: (s58) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5"...

Trestle Across Great Z
1869

Photograph. Title: 223 Trestle across Great Z (scratched on negative) Image Description: (s223) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.:...

Wasatch Station
1869

Photograph. Title: 213 Wasatch Station (scratched on negative) Image Description: (s213) See title. Buildings, equipment, and supplies. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass...

[Monument Rock, No. 3, Echo Canyon]
1869

Photograph. Title: Image Description: Monument Rock, No. 3, Echo Canyon (s309) Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads. "...

Monument Rock
1869

Photograph. Title: Monument Rock Image Description: (s308) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads. Remarks:...

Cashiers Office, U.P.R.R., Echo
1869

Photograph. Title: Cashiers Office UPRR, Echo Image Description: (s320) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads...

Warner and Whitman's Group
1869

Photograph. Title: Warner and Whitmans Group Image Description: (s601) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads....

Engines at Rawlings Round House
1869

Photograph. Title: 151 Engines in Rawlings Round House (scratched on negative) Image Description: (s51)) See title. Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative, 5"X8...

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