Question

“east of the mississippi: nineteenth - century american landscape photography” from the national gallery of art. from the might of niagara falls to the grandeur of the mississippi river, the landscape of the eastern half of the united states served as a powerful source of mythmaking for a nation finding its identity in the nineteenth century. while painters who depicted the stirring scenery of the east have long been recognized, photographers inspired by the same sites have often been overlooked, their work eclipsed by photographs of the west. with some 175 photographs in a variety of media and formats, a new exhibition charts the trajectory of landscape photography east of the mississippi over the course of sixty years—from the earliest known landscape daguerreotypes taken in the united states in 1839 and 1840 to the meditative prints alfred stieglitz and edward steichen made at the close of the century. these photographs constitute a rich chapter of america’s visual culture, revealing much about the preoccupations of a young and growing country. photographers often sought out scenes of unaltered beauty in the eastern half of the country but were equally fascinated by the built environment in and around cities, from boston and philadelphia to new orleans. they trained their cameras on the transformations wrought by the civil war and by new enterprises including tourism and industrialization, particularly the advent of the railroad. initially celebrating the march of progress, eastern photographers later addressed the destruction of the wilderness and the need for its preservation. balancing nature and culture, the photographs on display present a vision of a nation filled with natural wonders, brimming with innovation, and undergoing rapid yet unstoppable change. the early decades: 1840s - 1850s photography was introduced to the world in 1839. when the new medium arrived in the united states that year, it first established itself in major cities in the east. photographers based in philadelphia, new york, and boston recorded the scenic vistas of tourist destinations such as the white mountains and niagara falls, first photographed by hugh lee pattinson in april 1840. many early practitioners came to the medium from scientific or mechanical backgrounds, drawn to its seemingly magical ability to reproduce nature. and most—including pattinson—adopted the daguerreotype, named after its french creator louis - jacques - mandé daguerre. this process fixed an image onto a silver - coated copperplate. characterized by a mirrorlike surface and precise detail, the daguerreotype dominated photography in the united states for the next decade and a half. which quotation from paragraph 3 supports the idea that the technical capabilities of photography attracted people to the field? “when the new medium arrived in the united states that year, it first established itself in major cities in the east.” “photographers based in philadelphia, new york, and boston recorded the scenic vistas of tourist destinations such as the white mountains and niagara falls, first photographed by hugh lee pattinson in april 1840.” “many early practitioners came to the medium from scientific or mechanical backgrounds, drawn to its seemingly magical ability to reproduce nature.” “characterized by a mirrorlike surface and precise detail, the daguerreotype dominated photography in the united states for the next decade and a half.”

Explanation:

The paragraph mentions that when the new medium (photography) arrived in the United States in 1839, photographers based in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston were among the early - adopters. This shows that the technical capabilities of photography attracted people in these major eastern cities.

Answer:

"When the new medium arrived in the United States that year, it first established itself in major cities in the East. Photographers based in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston recorded the scenic vistas of tourist destinations such as the White Mountains and Niagara Falls, first photographed by Hugh Lee Pattinson in April 1840."