Mirror Lake and Reflections, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, California

Charles L. Weed, Mirror Lake and Reflections, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, California, 1865, albumen silver print, sheet and image: 15 ¹⁄₂ x 20 ¹⁄₄ in. (39.4 x 51.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Charles T. Isaacs, 1994.89.5

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Artwork Details

Title: Mirror Lake and Reflections, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, California
Artist: Charles L. Weed
Publisher: Thomas Houseworth and Co.
Date: 1865
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet and image: 15 ¹⁄₂ x 20 ¹⁄₄ in. (39.4 x 51.4 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Charles T. Isaacs
Mediums Description: albumen silver print
Classifications: Photography
Photoprint
Subjects: Landscape — lake — Mirror Lake
Landscape — valley — Yosemite Valley
Landscape — California — Mariposa County
Landscape — phenomenon — light
Object Number: 1994.89.5
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.89.5

Artwork Description

Like Carleton Watkins, his better-known competitor, Charles Weed recognized the pictorial dividend to be gained by showing Yosemite’s glorious geological features in duplicate, using the valley’s lakes as reflecting ponds. Weed first traveled to what was then known as “Yo-Semite,” in 1859, but with a relatively small camera. He returned in 1865 with a larger model capable of using what were called mammoth plates. Like Watkins, he sold his prints to buyers eager to own a photograph of majestic natural beauty.

A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2013