Laura Bridgman. Albumen print, Getty Museum. Public domain photograph.

George Kendall Warren was the son of a farmer and was brought up in a rural environment. Warren showed an early interest in photography and began his career as an apprentice to a local photographer. In 1857, Warren moved to Boston to work for the prominent photographer John Adams Whipple. He quickly gained a reputation as a skilled photographer and was soon hired by the Boston publishing house of J.H. Bufford to produce photographic illustrations for their publications. Warren's work was highly regarded for its technical excellence and artistic quality. He specialised in landscape photography and was renowned for his stunning images of the American West. He travelled extensively throughout the western United States documenting the natural beauty of the region. In 1869, Warren was commissioned by the Union Pacific Railroad to document the construction of the transcontinental railroad. He produced a series of photographs that captured the monumental engineering feat of building a railway across the rugged terrain of the West. Warren's work was widely exhibited and won numerous awards, including a gold medal at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. He died in 1884 at the age of 50, but his legacy as one of America's greatest photographers lives on.

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