Cupid's Gateway 1875 - 1899

H.D. Udall made this stereograph titled ‘Cupid’s Gateway.’ The two sepia-toned photographs, when viewed through a stereoscope, create a single three-dimensional image that aims for a heightened sense of realism. The composition, bisected into two near-identical frames, invites a structural comparison, while the textural density, created by the forest debris, presents a landscape caught between the organic and the constructed. The title suggests an arch formed naturally by the landscape. This gateway becomes a signifier, a symbol of love's potential passage. Udall uses the stereograph to not only capture a scene but to frame an idea, inviting us to consider how natural forms can be re-coded with cultural meaning. The very act of photographing this particular formation challenges our understanding of space and representation, pushing the boundaries of how we perceive the natural world through constructed images.