San Francisco Earthquake Source - Essay Example

San Francisco Earthquake Source Analysis The disastrous Earthquake of 1868 that crippled the of San Francisco greatly impacted the history and the culture of the people that lived there for several years afterward. Technology was advanced enough for photographs to be taken of city after the earthquake had hit the city to showcase the visual evidence of the destruction that had taken place. Of these photographs, there are three main pieces of work that have stood out and require further analysis for a greater understanding of the historical importance and relevancy of each source. These three sources are entitled, “San Francisco effects Earthquake of 1868”, “S. F. [San Francisco] - Clay St. looking east from Battery” and “San Francisco effects.” Each of these sources is available within The Bancroft Library, which is a subsidiary of the University of California, Berkley. Throughout this analysis, these three sources will be evaluated based on the quality of content, the details of the images, and the overall purpose for the desired audience. It is clear that these photographs help showcase the historical importance of this event based on the three evaluation criteria and the details of the content as well. First of all, these sources have all been chosen because they related well with one another. Each captures a different aspect of the earthquake from 1868 that impacted the city of San Francisco, and each was originally taken with a similar camera. This is likely to be true because of the similar brown tint coloring that consumes the background and forefront of the pictures, and the rest of the solid structures are outlined and detailed by black lines. The quality of the content is not what we would consider high-quality in modern photographs with bright colors and clear content; however, the photographs can be viewed very clearly and the images being produced are also very detailed. Many of the buildings are shown having fallen apart and with destroyed debris lying in the middle of the streets. Large wooden planks help support some of the more unstable buildings, while people stand in awe of the scene they are viewing in the photographs. Although the two colors, which can be argued as being black and white, are the only colors that exist, the three images are still very clear and detailed. There is no question of what is being viewed and this helps the viewer further appreciate the historical technology and advancement that existed in 1868. Although we cannot see the colors of the sky or any other colors from the aftermath, the images are enough to gain a full appreciation for the events. This alone is evidence enough of the high quality of the content that existed and was used over 150 years ago. The details of the images are very specific and help provide the viewer with an exact recollection of the effects of the 1868 earthquake in San Francisco. First of all, the image entitled “San Francisco effects Earthquake of 1868” shows three separate buildings, each of which has been impacted by the earthquake. The middle building is of course the building that was greatly impacted because the entire ceiling had caved in on the building. The viewer can see through the windows of the middle building and view all of the pieces of wood, brick, and furniture that have been torn apart and settled at the bottom of the building. Furthermore, the building to the right of this scene has had piece of its left-most roof destroyed and even has one wooden plank in the front to help support a beam that is not very stable after the earthquake. This helps show the architectural problems of the times where one single plank could cause greater damage to the rest of the building. It also shows that at the time, the only tools that were available to help stabilize these buildings were large pieces of wooden planks. Furthermore, the scene in the image entitled “S. F. [San Francisco] - Clay St. looking east from Battery” showcases a series of buildings along the same street, which looks east. Here, we can see a lot of debris and destroyed pieces of building lying in the streets in the background of the photograph. The stability of the buildings in view is also very questionable because the rooftops are uneven and appear to not be safe for fear of the buildings caving again. In this photograph the viewer can see many more of the large wooden planks being used to help support the unstable structure of multiple buildings. The building in the middle even leans eastward and does not follow any architectural pattern, which can be seen as clearly the effects of the earthquake. The only items that are actually keeping this middle building upright are the planks in the front of the building and the physical buildings to the right and left of it. Otherwise, this building should have fallen to the ground as we have noticed in the previous photograph. Finally, the content of the image entitled “San Francisco effects” puts one full building in the forefront of the viewer. There is no background to this photograph, except for what debris and destroyed parts of the building can be seen through the open windows. The entire front of the right side of the building has been completely removed, which allows the viewer to see that the top two floors of the building are bent and completely unstable. The wall on the inside of the second floor shows cracks in it and appears to be able to collapse at any moment. The details of this photograph are quite unique because it focuses on one single building and the great impact that the earthquake of 1868 had upon it structure. There are wooden planks in the front of the left side of the building, but it is unclear as to whether they were intentionally placed there for stabilization or if they are just large pieces of wood that came off of the building and happen to land in their position in the photograph. Much of these detailed images help show the debris that had been flung in the streets of San Francisco, the instability of the buildings, and the attempts of the people to try to stabilize what was left of their city through any means necessary. It is clear that the overall purpose for these photographs was to express to the viewer the horrible effects that were caused by the devastating earthquake. The images that are shown enable the viewer to see full-sized buildings crashed to the ground and other buildings having nothing more than large planks of plywood to keep them from falling completely to the ground. The rubble that is shown in the backgrounds of “San Francisco effects Earthquake of 1868” and “S. F. [San Francisco] - Clay St. looking east from Battery” help show the extent of the damage. None of the buildings in either of these two photos had been unscathed from the destruction of this natural disaster. This helps provide the viewer with a greater idea of how large of an impact the event had on the entire city, which was ultimately the purpose for these photographs in the first place. The original photographer may have also realized the historical importance of such an event to the city of San Francisco as well as the state of California; therefore, these photographs are provided as evidence of the natural disaster. Physical evidence of actual events, such as the photographs being analyzed, helps provide us with a greater appreciation for the event rather than simply reading about it from a history book. The year 1868 was not a technologically-advanced time period, so it is fascinating that individuals had the foresight to understand that such events must be photographed for future viewers to fully appreciate the effects of this earthquake. These three sources are very useful in understanding the impact that the natural disaster had upon one single city in the state of California. The event greatly impacted the people of California and is forever etched as an important aspect of California’s history. These photographs show excellent content, very specific details, and were created for a specific purpose to help analyze the actual impact of the event by future viewers. Anyone can draw a great appreciation for the quality of the work at such an early time in the technology timeline for the United States. It is difficult to believe that such high-quality photographs can be taken at such a time, but the quality provides the viewer an ability to greater appreciate the event altogether. Read More