Carleton Watkins, View on the Calloway Canal, Near Poso Creek, Kern County
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles · Digital image courtesy of Getty's Open Content ProgramView original →
Carleton Watkins

View on the Calloway Canal, Near Poso Creek, Kern County

1887

Current Collection

J. Paul Getty Museum

Los Angeles, United States

Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
37.5 × 53 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-687118

The first photographs Watkins made along the Kern River served as evidence in a water rights lawsuit that eventually resulted in a decisive court ruling that prevented newcomers from diverting water from existing landowners. James Ben Ali Haggin, the defendant and Watkins's client, had a series of irrigation canals that raised the price of land in Kern County. In this spare composition, made where present-day Poso Road crosses the Calloway Canal, Watkins devoted almost equal proportions to sky, land, and water.

Provenance

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Registry history

  • 1887 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum — photographs

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