,1,As the first United States’ federal government photographer, John Wood was uniquely positioned to capture the construction of Capitol Extension and Dome but also key events on its grounds, including two presidential inaugurations, James Buchanan (1857) and Abraham Lincoln (1862). Wood’s images were often distributed to garner political and financial support for these large public works projects. In keeping with their use, Wood framed his works as both documentary and as a means of capturing the Emersonian ideals of America as a place of, “beginnings, of projects, of designs and expectations.”
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