Cayuga Lake Sheldrake L.V.R.R.

William H. Rau

ca. 1895 · Albumen silver print from glass negative · Photographs

Born in Philadelphia, Rau photographed extensively throughout the American West, Europe, and the Middle East. He also participated in an international scientific expedition to New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, where he recorded the Transit of Venus across the sun in 1874. Rau gained notice through his series of photographs documenting scenery along the Pennsylvania Railroad and as official photographer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. His railroad work was aimed at introducing city-dwellers to the natural beauty of their own East Coast backyard. Photographs such as this picturesque view of bathers at Sheldrake, a resort town in New York’s Fingerlakes region, served as advertisements for leisure travel.

Artist

William H. Rau

Date

ca. 1895

Medium

Albumen silver print from glass negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Purchase, Joseph M. Cohen Gift, 2005