William Henry Jackson’s original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, circa 1915. From the William Henry Jackson Collection (WH1677)
William Henry Jackson’s original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, circa 1915. From the William Henry Jackson Collection (WH1677)
The Western History and Genealogy Department’s William Henry Jackson camera is a finalist in Colorado’s Most Significant Artifacts program! Public voting is now open, and we need your vote! (Voting ends November 17, 2017.)
Why should you vote for William Henry Jackson’s original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 camera? Read on!
[between 1898 and 1900?] Approaching Buena Vista
Approaching Buena Vista
Why This Artifact Is Significant
William Henry Jackson’s photographs introduced a vision of the American West to an international audience. In 1868, Jackson opened a studio in Omaha and began photographing Pawnee and Omaha Indians and the landscapes along the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads.
During the 1870s, Jackson achieved notoriety while working for the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories and photographing Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. Jackson’s photographs were essential in prompting the United States government to establish Yellowstone National Park in 1872.
Jackson returned to commercial photography for several years before joining the Detroit Photographic Company, a publishing firm, in 1897. Thousands of Jackson’s photographs were reproduced and distributed widely by the firm.
16th Street, Denver
16th Street, Denver
How This Artifact Relates to Colorado History
William Henry Jackson’s cameras were essential tools in documenting early chapters in Colorado’s history. Jackson created a visual record of Colorado’s people, natural landscape and built environment with his photographs. While Jackson took many images of Colorado for the Hayden Survey, his work continued when he opened a commercial photography studio in Denver in 1879.
This artifact, an Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, is representative of Jackson’s involvement in commercial photography and publishing—work that brought images of Colorado’s people and landscapes to audiences around the world.
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