Most of Watkins work, or at least what he is most commonly known for, is large scale photographs of Yosemite National park. He was shooting at a time when most people had never been more than a hundred miles from where they were born so he and Muybridge were providing people both with an escape from their reality and also with knowledge of what their country looked like. His photographs were meant to transport people. Muybridge did this by taking shots from ledges and adding a bit of the ledge in the photograph so that the viewer felt as though they were on the edge of falling in. Watkins went about this in a very different way. He tried to make the most realistic photograph that he could and from the best vantage point to capture a complete view and feeling of an area. The peaches are a complete departure from this line of thinking. They are just there to be looked at. They are not a commentary or indicative of a specific place. These peaches are simple, beautiful, and delicate.
S. Cargile