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Categories
Picture Categories
Tours

Featured Watkins Photographs
Tour of selected stereographs by Carleton Watkins
Mammoth
Plates
Mammoth Plate Photographs
Becoming a Professional Photographer
Yosemite Valley and Related Pictures
San Francisco and the Pacific Coast
South, East, and North of San Francisco
The Californa Missions Project
- Northern and Central California
- Southern California and Arizona
Picturing the Topographical Landscape
Railroads and Agriculture
Mining
Other Subjects
- Portraits and Works of Art
Watkins used a specially constructed camera to expose 18 x 22 inch glass plates. He created over 1200 mammoth plate photographs during his career. Watkins photographs of Yosemite were very influentual in creation of the park.
Stereographs
1859-1874
Stereographs 1859-1874 (Watkins Old Series and Watkins Pacific Railroad)
Stereographs
Stereographs
Watkins Pacific Railroad
Watkins was widely recognized for his photographs during this time, receiving a medal from the Paris International Exposition in 1867. This group of photographs are known as Watkins Old Series and are some of the earliest photographs of California and Oregon.
Stereographs
1875-1890
Stereographs 1875 to 1890 (Watkins New Series)
Stereographs
Stereographs
Unnumbered Series
- Fourteenth Industrial Exposition
- A.B. Clark, Anaheim
Albumns
- Sunny Slope, San Gabriel, Cal.
After the loss of his earlier negatives to a creditor during a financial crisis, Carleton Watkins started photographing anew in the mid-1870s. Watkins' "New Series" stereographs begin with series number 3001.
Other
Formats
Photographs in other Formats
Albums
Studio Portraits
- Photographs made in Watkins San Franciso Studio
CdV, Cabinet Card, Boudoir Card, Imperial Mount and other Medium Format Prints
Watkins published prints in a variety of formats during his career including Albums, Cabinet Cards, and 8x10 prints.
Documents &
Ephemera
Documents & Ephemera
Includes advertising, trade cards, personal correspondence, and other documents.
About
About Carleton Watkins
About CarletonWatkins.org

Sea Bathing, Santa Monica

1880

In the 1880s sea bathing was extremely popular. Women's bathing suits were typically heavy black wool dresses, weighing 20 pounds or more when wet.

Men's suits resembled long undergarments. Bathers ventured into the surf while holding onto ropes anchored to wooden poles driven into the sand.

This view shows the earliest bathing houses on the Santa Monica beach. Watkins made a number of trips to Southern California in the 1870's and 1880's. He documented the extensive agricultural industry and the towns of Los Angeles and San Diego. Watkins also thoroughly photographed the California Missions giving us an important early record of these structures.

Tips for searching CarletonWatkins.org

Enter one or more words or numbers and click "Search".

Searches may contain letters, numbers, underscore, dash and spaces.

Examples

The Options drop-down lets you narrow your search

Picture Categories

Featured Watkins Photographs

Mammoth Plate Photographs

Becoming a Professional Photographer

Yosemite Valley and Related Pictures

San Francisco and the Pacific Coast

South, East, and North of San Francisco

The Californa Missions Project

Picturing the Topographical Landscape

Railroads and Agriculture

Mining

Other Subjects

Watkins used a specially constructed camera to expose 18 x 22 inch glass plates. He created over 1200 mammoth plate photographs during his career. Watkins photographs of Yosemite were very influentual in creation of the park.

Stereographs 1859-1874 (Watkins Old Series and Watkins Pacific Railroad)

Stereographs

Stereographs

Watkins Pacific Railroad

Watkins was widely recognized for his photographs during this time, receiving a medal from the Paris International Exposition in 1867. This group of photographs are known as Watkins Old Series and are some of the earliest photographs of California and Oregon.

Stereographs 1875 to 1890 (Watkins New Series)

Stereographs

Stereographs

Unnumbered Series

Albumns

After the loss of his earlier negatives to a creditor during a financial crisis, Carleton Watkins started photographing anew in the mid-1870s. Watkins' "New Series" stereographs begin with series number 3001.

Photographs in other Formats

Albums

Studio Portraits

CdV, Cabinet Card, Boudoir Card, Imperial Mount and other Medium Format Prints

Watkins published prints in a variety of formats during his career including Albums, Cabinet Cards, and 8x10 prints.

Documents & Ephemera

Includes advertising, trade cards, personal correspondence, and other documents.

Sea Bathing, Santa Monica

1880