Mark Ruwedel
Four Cuts from "Westward the Course of Empire", 1996-2004
Silver prints (4)
Each 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches; mounts 16x20 inches
With Ruwedel's neatly penciled title mount recto, and signature, title date mount verso.
With Ruwedel's neatly penciled title mount recto, and signature, title date mount verso.
Further images
Mark Ruwedel is a photographer who has spent his career documenting the American West. These photographs are his seminal ongoing series Westward the Course of Empire, a survey of the...
Mark Ruwedel is a photographer who has spent his career documenting the American West. These photographs are his seminal ongoing series Westward the Course of Empire, a survey of the residual landforms created by the numerous railroads built in the American and Canadian West since 1869.
While the images depict grades, cuts, tunnels, and trestles that were created for rail use, some that were not abandoned or never completed were repurposed for the automobile. The photographs speak to notions of “Manifest Destiny” and the American need to push forward at any cost, revealing a dark inverse of the declaration to “Go West.”
While the images depict grades, cuts, tunnels, and trestles that were created for rail use, some that were not abandoned or never completed were repurposed for the automobile. The photographs speak to notions of “Manifest Destiny” and the American need to push forward at any cost, revealing a dark inverse of the declaration to “Go West.”