In collaboration with Habits Jackson Hole, Daniel / Oliver Gallery is pleased to present a selection of vintage photographs of Yellowstone National Park, created over a century ago by the pioneering photographers F. Jay Haynes and William Henry Jackson.The selection of work from these two represents their outsized artistic achievements, and the use of photography as a powerful persuasive tool which shaped 19th-century ideologies, influenced migration westward, and promoted the conservation of a rapidly changing American landscape.
William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) created some of the 19th-century’s most enduring photographs of the American West. While working as the official photographer for the Hayden Survey in 1871, he captured the many natural wonders along the Teton Range. Along with paintings made by Thomas Moran during this expedition, Jackson’s photographs from the Hayden trip were exhibited in the U.S. Capitol. The powerful beauty of the Yellowstone images were one of the major factors in the congressional vote that established it as the first National Park in 1872.
Frank Jay Haynes (1853-1921) began his career as a studio photographer in the North Dakota Territory and was commissioned in 1876 to make views along the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1884, Haynes opened a studio and photography gallery at the newly opened Yellowstone National Park, selling prints of its natural wonders, such as the Lone Star Geyser Cone and iconic views of Old Faithful. For more than thirty years Haynes served as the park’s official photographer, as well as a consummate entrepreneur who recognized the public’s insatiable desire to take home a tangible memory from their time at the park. (A need that is now often fulfilled by a simple instagram post.)
Founded in 2018, Daniel / Oliver Gallery handles photographs, archives, and other unique materials which document American culture. Co-founders Daniel Moyer and Oliver Lott are particularly interested in the history and uses of photography. Through pop-up exhibitions, online catalogs, and rotating shows at their gallery space in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the pair are continually exploring the question, “Why do people take photographs?”