THE STEREOGRAPH

The stereograph or stereogram is basically 2 almost identical images of the same scene which when looked upon from a stereoscope; they appear to be in a 3 dimensional scale. Also known as the stereogram it was the invention before the discovery of the Polaroid in the nineteenth-century.

Oliver Wendell Holmes had invented a stereogram that was affordable to the American people. He has been quoted to state that no painting can ever produce, such details and depth that are projected from the stereoscope. The main reason behind the invention of the stereograph is of commercial value, sellers could reuse the images without acknowledging or paying the original photographer of the images. The lower class society could afford to acquire this camera and cards of distant exotic places, making the travel and holiday experience felt trough photography. All these circumstances combined made the stereograph to last for over sixty years.

In our modern days the stereograph still has an important value as a primary source in the study of the nineteenth-century history, depicting social life and historical value. Thanks to the durability of the cards material, several collections are still preserved in a noticeable good condition. Events such as the Civil War and Spanish-American War are well documented and still preserved at the American Antiquarian Society together with thousands of other cards depicting parades, celebrations, sports and documentary material.

AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, n.a. Stereographs. [online]

Available at: < http://www.americanantiquarian.org/stereographs.htm>

[Accessed 25 December 2013].