Monument voor F.G. Klopstock in het Brühlpark, Quedlinburg 1868 - 1890

This photograph by Hermann Selle captures the monument to F.G. Klopstock in Brühlpark, Quedlinburg. It’s a stereo card, a popular form of 19th-century entertainment achieved by combining two nearly identical photographs to create a single three-dimensional image. Consider the work involved: from the darkroom expertise needed to develop the print, to the mechanical process of mounting and cutting. While photography democratized image-making, it also introduced new forms of industrial labor. Individuals were now employed in factories to mass-produce these images, trading the unique skill of the artist for repetitive, assembly-line tasks. The monument itself, made of stone and iron, speaks to the era’s emphasis on permanence and public virtue. Photography provided a means of capturing and disseminating this monument, making it accessible to a wider audience, yet also commodifying it as a consumable product. Photographs like this one challenge traditional distinctions between art and craft, revealing the complex interplay of skill, labor, and technology in the production of images.