48 Photographs Capture America at 250

Burning flags, busty blondes and bison skulls: 48 photographs that capture America at 250

From the gold rush to civil rights, the moon landing to 9/11, the US has always understood, mythologised and sold itself through the power of the still image The United States was founded in 1776, but did not begin to see itself until the autumn of 1839, when daguerreotypes, the first form of photograph, reached American cities. You could argue the US began again on the morning it could look at its own face. At first photography seemed to answer the democratic promise of 1776. A portrait was ...

By Sarah Churchwell