Eadweard Muybridge and the photographic panorama of San Francisco, 1850-1880

In 1990 the Canadian Centre for Architecture acquired a copy of Eadweard Muybridge's rare mammoth-plate "Panorama of San Francisco from California Street Hill." Made in 1878 from the top of the Mark Hopkins mansion, this 360-degree photograph of the city, over five metres in length, was not only a remarkable technical achievement but a high point in the history of city view-making. Eadweard Muybridge and the Photographic Panorama of San Francisco, 1850-1880 is the first work to study Muybridge's panorama in depth, providing a context in which to situate and appreciate his achievement. By examining the panoramas of San Francisco made from Nob Hill by Muybridge as well as George Fardon, Charles L. Weed, and Carleton Watkins, this publication brings to light the complex aims and unique qualities of these objects, revealing as well the vital nature of the city that was their subject. David Harris, curator of the exhibition which this publication accompanies, examines in his essay the photographer's role in creating and imposing an aesthetic order upon the apparent haphazardness of the city, concentrating upon the technical and conceptual issues involved in making panoramas as well as t