Yosemite Valley

California's first great artist was a photographer -- Carleton Watkins, who worked throughout the West in the mid-19th century. His work blossomed into maturity in the 1860s, with big images that evoked not just paintings but also the immensity of the Western landscape. This view of the Yosemite Valley is included in an exhibit at the Getty Museum, "Dialogue Among Giants: Carelton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California."