{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O98746"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O98746/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB2981/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB2981/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BB2981","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O98746/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O98746","accessionNumber":"E.3001-2004","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Yosemite Falls","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Sepia-toned photograph of Yosemite Falls seen at a distance through trees in the foreground.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Watkins, Carleton E.","id":"A12920"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"albumen process","id":"AAT133274"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Albumen print","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2006BB2981"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"100","id":"THES49934"},"free":"","case":"WW","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Yosemite Valley","id":"x38240"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1865","earliest":"1860-01-01","latest":"1869-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"E.3002-2004","id":"O98748"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Acquired by exchange with the Wilson Centre for Photography, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"52.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"41.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"71","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"55.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'03:7515'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Previous owners mark in pencil on recto."},{"content":"'Watkins'\r\n'Yosemite Falls'\r\n'2630 feet'\r\n'No. 51'\r\n'VIII2'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Written in pencil on recto."}],"objectHistory":"Historical significance: When Watkins visited the Yosemite Valley he made thirty mammoth plate and one hundred stereograph views that were among the first photographs of Yosemite seen in the East. Partly on the strength of Watkins's photographs, President Abraham Lincoln signed the 1864 bill that declared the valley inviolable, thus paving the way for the National Parks system.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Carleton Watkins, 'Yosemite Falls', albumen print, ca. 1865","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Yosemite National Park","id":"x36710"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"landscapes","id":"AAT15636"},{"text":"waterfalls","id":"AAT8736"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i>American Photographs</i> (V&amp;A, June 2025 - May 2027)\n\nCarleton Watkins (1829–1916)\r\n<i><b>Yosemite Falls</b></i>\r\nAbout 1865\r\n\nWatkins mounted substantial expeditions to Yosemite during the 1860s, recording the grandeur of the landscape with a large and unwieldy ‘mammoth plate’ camera. His breathtaking images were instrumental in President Lincoln’s establishment of the National Park System, a preservation project initiated during the turbulent years of the American Civil War (1861–65).\r\n\nAlbumen print\r\nMuseum no. E.3001-2004","date":{"text":"2025","earliest":"2025-01-01","latest":"2025-12-31"}},{"text":"Carleton E. Watkins (born New York 1829, died California 1916)\r\nYosemite Falls\r\nAbout 1865\r\n\r\n\r\nCarleton E. Watkins was the foremost American landscape photographer of his day. He is best remembered for his majestic images of the American West, which he took using a 'mammoth-plate' camera that held glass negatives the same size as this print. This photograph, and others taken by Watkins, helped persuade the US Congress to make the Yosemite Valley a national park. \r\n\r\nAlbumen print\r\n\r\nAcquired by exchange with the Wilson Centre for Photography 2004\r\nMuseum no. E.3001-2004","date":{"text":"07/10/2004","earliest":"2004-10-07","latest":"2004-10-07"}},{"text":"Gallery 100, ‘History of photography’, 2012-2013, label texts :\r\n\r\nCarleton Watkins (1829 – 1916)\r\n‘Yosemite Falls’\r\nAbout 1865\r\n\r\nWatkins was the most successful American\r\nlandscape photographer of his day. He is best\r\nremembered for his majestic images of the\r\nAmerican West, which he took using a ‘mammothplate’\r\ncamera that held glass negatives the same\r\nsize as this print. This photograph, and others taken\r\nby Watkins, helped persuade the US Congress to\r\nmake the Yosemite Valley a national park.\r\n\r\nAlbumen print\r\nAcquired by exchange with the Wilson Centre for Photography 2004\r\nMuseum no. E.3001-2004\r\n","date":{"text":"11 03 2014","earliest":"2014-03-11","latest":"2014-03-11"}}],"partNumbers":["E.3001-2004"],"accessionNumberNum":"3001","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2004,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-13","recordCreationDate":"2004-05-26","availableToBook":false}}