Gezicht op San Sebastián

This stereograph, showing a general view of San Sebastián, was created by Jean Andrieu sometime in the mid-19th century. The image is printed on paper, then mounted on card stock to give it that stiff, dimensional quality that was so popular at the time. Think about the labor and social context embedded in this seemingly simple object. The photographer, Andrieu, had to master the wet collodion process, a finicky chemical procedure. Then there’s the printing and mounting. The image, duplicated in two nearly identical prints, creates a sense of depth when viewed through a stereoscope, offering a novel form of immersive experience. And don't forget the consumers. These stereographs were cheap, mass-produced, and consumed by a growing middle class hungry for visual experiences that transported them to far-off places, feeding into both a booming tourist industry and a rapidly industrializing world.