City Prison, Guatemala
Eadweard J. Muybridge
American, born England. 1830–1904
1875
An 1875 albumen silver print by Eadweard Muybridge showing the fortresslike exterior of Guatemala City's prison, made as a documentary record of place, built authority, and the everyday life seen during his travels.
A wide, low-angle view emphasizes the long, crenellated wall and corner tower stretching into the distance along a cobbled street, with small groups of figures punctuating the austere architecture and giving human scale.
The work sits within early documentary photography and colonial-era visual surveying, illustrating Muybridge’s rigorous observational practice that helped expand photography’s uses for social documentation and would preface his later experiments in capturing motion.
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
5 3/8 × 9 3/8" (13.6 × 23.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Transferred from The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Accession
182.1964.49
Palette
Exhibitions
