There is something very striking in Timothy O’Sullivan’s work. He is probably considered a documentary/ landscape photographer yet most of his images are not fully instrumental. They tell a story. There is always an element of artistic composition and intentionality behind each one. I lot of this is probably due to the fact it was a very intensive process to take just one photo during the 1800s. He would have to haul not just the camera gear but the post processing gear and maybe even a “dark room” with him on every expedition. Ventures like this are very time consuming, strenuous depending on the terrain and can get expensive quickly. I admire his effort and dedication to capture such expansive and thought-provoking images. He seems like the Jimmy Chin of the 1800s, a guy that as an eye for story-telling and wants to capture places that not a lot of people the opportunity to witness, whether it was the grandeur of a cliff face or a heartbreaking place of destruction after a war. Jimmy Chin is known for doing this incredibly well through a lot of his documentary work for National Geographic because he is constantly pushing the limits of his various skills. Timothy O’Sullivan definitely did the same.
Timothy O’Sullivan
Rio Grande (McKenna Watson)