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John Choate, Boarding School Portraits of Tom Torlino
John Choate, Boarding School Portraits of Tom Torlino

Indigenous students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School were photographed "before and after" forced assimilation.

Peaks and perils: The life of Carleton Watkins
Peaks and perils: The life of Carleton Watkins

In the 1860s Carleton Watkins loaded a team of mules with his mammoth-plate camera and glass negatives and ventured into Yosemite Valley.

Timothy O’Sullivan, <em>A Harvest of Death</em>
Timothy O’Sullivan, A Harvest of Death

One of the most famous landscape photographs showing the horrible aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Carleton Watkins, Eagle Creek, Columbia River
Carleton Watkins, Eagle Creek, Columbia River

Business or pleasure? Carlton Watkins could photograph both beautifully.

Jacob Riis, <em>“Knee-Pants” at Forty-Five Cents a Dozen—A Ludlow Street Sweater’s Shop</em>, from <em>How the Other Half Lives</em>
Jacob Riis, “Knee-Pants” at Forty-Five Cents a Dozen—A Ludlow Street Sweater’s Shop, from How the Other Half Lives

Riis snapped photos of the urban poor during midnight police raids—but only because he cared.

Timothy O’Sullivan, <em>Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle</em>
Timothy O’Sullivan, Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle

A stunning look at an important Navajo monument reminds us that we’re basically specks in a vast universe.

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