Four stereographs showing stereo photographers at work: (1) "Taking a View for You & U," copyright 1893 by J. F. Jarvis, Washington, D.C. (little girl holding field camera); (2) uncaptioned view of man standing on pier amid ruins, published by Underwood & Underwood, undated, identified as Bert Underwood in pencil on mount; (3) "Our well known Stereoscopic Photographer, H. A. Strohmeyer--Blanket Court-martialed by his Army friends," copyright 1898 by Strohmeyer & Wyman; and (4) an Underwood stereo photographer, apparently Herbert G. Ponting, at crater of Aso-san volcano, Japan, copyright 1904 by Underwood & Underwood.
Arrangement:
Collection arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Stereographs utilize a pair of photographic images from negatives taken with camera lenses separated laterally by a few inches, to approximate the distance between a human's eyes. The resulting images, when viewed separately but simultaneously--one image for each eye--provide the illusion of normal depth perception or three-dimensional viewing. Stereographs were made as early as the 1840s, but did not achieve widespread popularity until the 1860s, when several companies began to mass-produce them. After a period of flagging interest, another wave of popularity occurred when Underwood & Underwood began publishing "educational," travel-oriented images in 1895. The intrepid, peripatetic photographers who took the stereo views occasionally were themselves of interest to viewers. See standard references on the photographers and companies represented by these stereographs, such as William Culp Darrah, The World of Stereographs, etc.; also see the finding aid for the Archives Center's Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection.
Provenance:
The stereographs were purchased from a dealer, Jeffrey Kraus, who obtained them from unidentified standard sources and collectors. They were acquired because of their relationship to images in the Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
