Artist

Seneca Ray Stoddard

born Wilton, NY 1844-died Glens Falls, NY 1917
Also known as
  • S. R. Stoddard
Born
Wilton, New York, United States
Died
Glens Falls, New York, United States
Biography

Although Stoddard began his career as a railroad-car-decorator, an 1867 issue of the Glen Falls, New York, newspaper referred to him as a landscape photographer. He is best known for his work in the Adirondack wilderness. Produced as both single prints and stereographs, Stoddard's photographs contributed to a mythic appreciation of the Adirondacks, even as they describe the development of the area. His photographs of evening camplife, made with a magnesium flash, are a reminder of the intrusion of the sportsman.

Working for Wiliam West Durant's Adirondack Railway, he documented the construction of a northern route to an area increasingly visited by urban tourists. In the photograph of Eaglewood Cliffs, New Jersey, [SAAM, 1994.91.175] Stoddard integrates the sublime attractions of nature with the effects of railroad construction.

Merry A. Foresta American Photographs: The First Century (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996)

Works by this artist (9 items)

Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, The Countess, 1838, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1979.44
The Countess
Date1838
oil on canvas
On view
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, Bird Nesting, 1837, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Joshua C. Taylor through the Director's Discretionary Fund, 1981.51
Bird Nesting
Date1837
oil on canvas
On view
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, The Courtship of Anne Boleyn, 1846, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1980.28
The Courtship of Anne Boleyn
Date1846
oil on canvas
On view