American West, 1870s

In the late 19th century, the US government began a large-scale survey of the western frontier of the country. Having successfully defeated and otherwise subjugated the Native Americans whose lands these were, the focus was now on tapping the region&rsquos rich natural resources. What the surveyors found were incredible canyons, ancient rock formations a gigantic land of breathtaking beauty and variety.

Accompanying the surveyors was the photographer Timothy O&rsquoSullivan, an Irish American. With his box camera he had previously chronicled the Civil War, and certainly didn&rsquot feel out of place in the survey&rsquos military style campaigns.

What sets him apart from other photographers working in the field was the honesty of his photographs. O&rsquoSullivan didn&rsquot try to beautify the landscape. Instead he captured the west&rsquos grandeur on its own terms. These three photographs include a striking portrait of a group of Pah-Ute braves near Cedar, Utah, the canyon walls of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona and the junction of the gigantic Green and Yampah Canyons in Utah.

Timothy O&rsquoSullivan was in the right place at the right time to document an old land that was on the point of being completely overrun and changed by the new.