"Agassiz" Column, Yosemite

This compelling photograph presents an austere view of Agassiz Column, a seemingly precarious monument in Yosemite. Carleton Watkins achieved the round vignette format by either photographing or printing through a circular stencil, masking out the square edges. He often experimented with different angles, perspectives, and print formats in his New Series, the images he made after 1876.