Explorers Column, Cañon de Chelle, Arizona. This shaft is the work of nature, and is about 900 feet in height; base about 70 by 110 feet. It stands near the center of the Cañon, and it is almost impossible to believe that it is not the work of human hands, No. 23 from the series "Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian"

Art Historical Context

Timothy O’Sullivan’s “Explorers Column, Cañon de Chelle, Arizona” captures a towering sandstone monolith rising nearly 900 feet from the canyon floor, its sheer scale and symmetry making it appear almost architectural. Created in 1873 as part of the U.S. Army’s Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, the image belongs to a series that documented the dramatic landscapes of the American Southwest for government and public audiences. O’Sullivan, already known for his Civil War photographs, brought a measured, observational eye to these western expeditions, balancing scientific record with visual wonder. This work is a stereograph—an albumen print mounted on a card with two nearly identical images taken side by side. When viewed through a stereoscope, the pair produces a striking three-dimensional effect, allowing nineteenth-century viewers to feel immersed in the remote canyon. The caption printed beneath the image underscores the formation’s natural origin, gently correcting the common impulse to see human design in such symmetrical geology. Today the print resides in the Art Institute of Chicago’s photography collection, where it reminds us how early survey photographs shaped national ideas of wilderness and discovery. O’Sullivan’s careful framing invites us to appreciate both the land’s grandeur and the photographer’s role in making it visible to a wider public.

About the Artist

Timothy O'Sullivan · 1840–1882

Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) emerged as one of America's pioneering photographers during a transformative era. His early life remains sparsely documented, with records suggesting he was born either in New York City or Ireland before immigrating young, possibly growing up on Staten Island. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at his Fulton Street gallery in New York, mastering w...