Tyler Green Books

The biography delves into the life of Carleton Watkins, a pivotal photographer whose work shaped the American environmental imagination and aided in the preservation of Yosemite National Park. Tyler Green argues that Watkins played a crucial role in creating a "cultural Unionism" that connected the West to the national narrative during the Civil War. The book offers a fresh perspective on the American West's formation, blending formal analysis with engaging writing that brings historical events to life, making them resonate with contemporary readers.

"Carleton Watkins (1829-1916) is widely considered the greatest American photographer of the nineteenth century and arguably the most influential artist of his era. He is best known for his pictures of Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. Drawing on recent scholarship and fresh archival discoveries, Tyler Green reveals how an artist didn't just reflect his time, but acted as an agent of influence. This telling of Watkins's story will fascinate anyone interested in American history; the West; and how art and artists impacted the development of American ideas, industry, landscape, conservation, and politics." -- provided by publisher

Illustrated by classic American paintings and photographs, and accompanied with a prescient new appraisal, this stunning publication on Emerson's seminal 1836 essay is at once a meditation on the ways artists influence each other and a timely cri de coeur to cherish and preserve America's landscape.