View at the Bishop's Garden, Havana 1860

Anthony and Company produced this stereograph, "View at the Bishop's Garden, Havana", around 1860 using the wet collodion process. This photographic technique allowed for mass production of images, which became very popular in the form of stereographs. The photograph presents a seemingly idyllic scene of a garden, with a fountain as its central element, surrounded by lush vegetation, including palm trees. Given that it was made in Cuba, then a Spanish colony with a plantation economy, this image speaks to the complexities of colonial representation. It could be interpreted as a depiction of tropical abundance or a romantic view of a colonial space, obscuring the realities of slavery and exploitation. To truly understand this image, we can examine the history and power dynamics of the time. Documents from the colonial period might reveal how these spaces were used and perceived by different social classes, informing our interpretation of it and shedding light on the politics of imagery in colonial contexts.