Panorama from the Overhanging Cliff, Wisconsin Dells

Henry Hamilton Bennett

c. 1891

An albumen silver–print panorama by H. H. Bennett that frames the Wisconsin Dells from the mouth of an overhanging cliff, intended to convey the gorge’s vast, reflective stillness and sculptural rock forms in a single, cinematic view.

What hits you first is the dark cave‑like arch that crowns the image and focuses your eye on a mirror‑flat river and perfectly reflected tree‑lined cliffs, the whole scene rendered in warm sepia tones that make distance feel intimate and monumental.

This late‑nineteenth‑century panorama exemplifies technical strides in large‑format and panoramic photography and played a key role in turning local landscapes into widely distributed visual spectacles that helped promote tourism and shape public attitudes toward the American natural environment.

Palette

Art Terms

Albumen silver print Photography Landscape Wide shot Commercial photography

Exhibitions

Sixty Photographs: A Survey of Camera Esthetics

1940

Photographs of the Civil War and the American Frontier

1942

American Landscapes

1981

American Art Portfolio

1936