Overview
Pleas respond to Taylor with 200 words
Photographs became a way to inform the viewer and create documentation of architecture and landscapes towards the end of the 1800's. Photographers began exploring the West while being employed by land surveyors, the railroads, and even some being self-employed. With the Louisiana Purchase in the beginning of the 19th century, many photographers set out to inform the public back in the Eastern side of the United States about what opportunities and land forms presented themselves in the West.
To capture the best views of the West, a new type of photo arose in this era. This was the Panoramic, being used to showcase the vast expanses of land and immense land forms as well as architecture and booming industrialism. These included vast deserts, towering boulders, and the geysers of what would become Yellowstone National Park. As well as newly industrialized areas like San Francisco which boomed in the 1840-1850's from the California gold rush and Los Angeles booming from oil fields. This new documentation and information became a pull factor for many people in the Eastern United States. It Inspired some to explore the West and even inspired some to homestead. It made people wonder about the opportunities that lie in new lands.
Photography caused a huge shift in population density and the migration of many families and people. The panoramic photo, "Panorama of San Francisco from California Street Hill, 1878." which was 13 plates long, showed the vast and growing landscape of San Francisco. This would be (and was) massively inspiring to anyone looking for new opportunity in a new and growing area.