Civics: “The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today”
In addition to their technical and aesthetic mastery, the images express a sense of utopian optimism. The photos in this essay, all taken from 1962 to 1968, reflect a post-World War II confidence that grand infrastructure could tame and re-engineer where “nature” fell short. Big projects were utilitarian in their capacity to solve large-scale water resource problems, yet they also communicated that the nation — or in this case, a colossal state that essentially functions as a nation — was the hero to slay Western water scarcity. Like many such projects, it was intended to be witnessed and celebrated by citizens — a perpetual reminder that the state was working to solve its water problems. As anthropologist Brian Larkin put it, its visual grandeur serves “to rearrange the hierarchy of its functions so that the aesthetic dimension of infrastructure (rather than its technical one) is dominant.” Thus infrastructure at this scale does tremendous political work. These photos reflect the mid-20th century’s political philosophy, back when residents rallied behind the social spectacle of large public works projects more readily than they do today. With the recent removal of the Klamath dams and the ongoing push for more removals, the public is perhaps now more willing to celebrate water infrastructure’s elimination than its construction.
