Niagara Falls
In 1853, long before it became commonplace for tourists to make snapshots of one another standing in front of Saint Peter's, the Eiffel Tower, or the Parthenon, Platt Babbitt set up business in an open pavilion at Niagara Falls' prime viewing point. His impressive daguerreotypes and ambrotypes allowed visitors to take home not only a view of the spectacular Falls and a memory of the misty air and roaring sound, but also the undeniable proof that they themselves had stood at its very edge.
Artwork Details
- Title: Niagara Falls
- Artist: Attributed to Platt D. Babbitt (American, active 1840s–70s)
- Date: ca. 1855
- Medium: Ambrotype
- Dimensions: visible: 13.2 x 18.3 cm (5 3/16 x 7 3/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1997
- Object Number: 1997.382.49
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Platt D. Babbitt
ca. 1850
Platt D. Babbitt
Southworth and Hawes
ca. 1850–1855
On loan to The Met
Platt D. Babbitt
1853–58
Carleton E. Watkins
1863
Carleton E. Watkins
1867
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