Those wishing to learn more about the Great Earthquake of 1906 are advised to visit The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition, which is on display until May 30.
By Patrick Burnson
Published: May, 2006
Those wishing to learn more about the Great Earthquake of 1906 are advised to visit The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition, which is on display until May 30. 1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures commemorates the centennial of the event that shook the San Francisco area, 100 years ago, on April 18.
Incidentally, the earthquake coincided with a particularly rich moment in the history of photography, and this exhibition explores the wide variety of photographic responses to the disaster that resulted.
Commercial photography companies dispatched photographers to San Francisco to make dramatic views for sale as panoramas, stereoviews and postcards. By 1906, cameras marketed to the mass public put photography within the reach of the many amateur snapshooters who documented their experiences in the ruined city.
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, many photographers took to the Bay Area streets to capture the unfathomable damage the quake had caused, as well as the challenge of resuming normal life in the disaster’s wake.
SFMOMA’s exhibition features nearly 100 vintage photographs, which include spectacular panoramas made with airborne cameras by George Lawrence, atmospheric Pictorialist views by Willard Worden and glass lantern slides by Arnold Genthe.
