Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
In 1859, Charles L. Weed made the first photographs of the wild and breathtakingly beautiful Yosemite region in California. These pioneering photographs spoke of the area's splendors to future visitors and artists. Probably five years later, he returned to Yosemite to begin creating his remarkable mammoth plate views (roughly 17x22 inches). This celebrated vista of the distant, mountainous, forest scene is the best known of Weed's modest production of large-scale photographs. The serenity and order of the composition is punctuated by an isolated, spindly tree perched at a cliff's edge, asymmetrically dividing the composition while uniting the blank sky with the mountainous landscape below. The figure leaning against the tree in the foreground gives scale to the scene and suggests human isolation in the vastness of nature.
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Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916) — The Domes, from 
Carleton E. Watkins — Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point
Carleton E. Watkins — General View of Yosemite
Carleton E. Watkins — Tasayac, or the Half Dome, 4967 Feet
Carleton E. Watkins — El Capitan, Yosemite
Eadweard J. Muybridge (American, 1830–1904) — Valley of the 
Carleton E. Watkins — View from the Sentinel Dome, Yosemite
Unknown — Home of the Storm Gods, California
Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916) — Bridal Veil, Yos
Carleton E. Watkins — Cap of Liberty and Nevada Fall, Yosemi
Carleton E. Watkins — North Dome, 3,725 feet, Yosemite
Carleton E. Watkins — Pohono, Bridal Veil, 900 Feet, Yosemit