LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER

The wet collodian process of photography involved the treating of glass plates with chemicals immediately at the time of exposure to produce a negative. Equipment and chemicals therefore had to be carried into the field and Muybridge called his mobile dark room "The Flying Studio". Usually it was a horse drawn covered cart but in mountainous country a mule train and tent were needed. Initially he used the trade name "Helios", but later worked under his own name which by then he had changed to Muybridge.

Muybridge's reputation as a landscape photographer was established by his fine views of Yosemite, California's national park of outstanding natural scenery. He made photographic expeditions there in 1867 and 1872 and in the latter year used massive 20 x 24 inch plates for some of his negatives.

Photographic commissions led him to travel widely on the western side of the United States as far afield as Alaska in 1868 and Central America in 1875.

Sometimes acting as official photographer for government departments, he accompanied survey expeditions along the western coasts, recorded the newly built Pacific Railroads, and in 1873, photographed the final stages of the conflict between the Modoc Indians and the United States Army. Even by today's standards his photographs are remarkable for their clarity and composition and show an artist's appreciation of natural scenery and an eye for dramatic effect.

The summit of his achievement in landscape photography was his magnificent Panorama of San Francisco (1877), a comprehensive and detailed study of the city before the earthquake of 1906.