Rephotographing Carleton Watkins

In 1867, Carleton Watkins was 37 years old and had achieved some renown as photographer of California landscapes, particularly those of the Yosemite Valley. Watkins traveled to Oregon in 1867 with several objectives, but was apparently under a contract with Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSNC) to photograph their operations and facilities on the Columbia River upriver from Portland to The Dalles. Watkins photographed using a custom-built camera that used mammoth photographic glass plates, measuring 18 X 22 inches. He used the wet-collodion process, which required the use of a field dark room to prepare the glass plates for exposure, and then fix the plates after exposure.

This work is an attempt to rephotograph a small number of photographs made by Carleton Watkins during his trip up the Columbia River. Our general approach was to use the activity of rephotographing to engage with the original photographs, including their formal characteristics, by locating the original vantage point of the photograph, and making a contemporary photograph using a digital camera that reproduced those characteristics. The rephotographs were made during November 25-28, 2022, on road trip that roughly followed Watkins’ journey up the Columbia River.

The objective of locating and reoccupying the original vantage points of the Watkins photographs was an ongoing challenge. At least a quarter of the Watkins photographs in the Columbia River album had vantage points that are now underwater due to the Bonneville and Dalles Dams. The terrain of the Columbia River Gorge has been extensively modified during its development as a transportation corridor with superseding modes of transportation, from steamships to railroads, to highways, and finally to freeways.