Santa Fe, is that you?

Spent the afternoon today with Tim and Nick climbing around the hills overlooking Santa Fe trying to find the spot from which Timothy O'Sullivan snapped* the photo on the top in 1871. Because of obstacles which have sprung up over the last 141 years (like people's houses — and lots of trees), this, the shot on the bottom, was the closest we were able to get.

*Not the word to use. Nothing snappy about O'Sullivan's process, according to an article the Daily Mail published earlier this year. (Check out the article to see a nice selection of O'Sullivan's breathtaking photos of the still pristine West.) As their writer put it:

O'Sullivan used a primitive wet plate box camera which he would have to spend several minutes setting up every time he wanted to take a photograph. He would have to assemble the device on a tripod, coat a glass plate with collodion — a flammable solution. The glass would then be put in a holder before being inserted into a camera. After a few seconds exposure, he would rush the plate to his dark room wagon and cover it in chemicals to begin the development process.

Thanks to Randy King for the link and the challenge!