Gezicht op een waterval in Italië c. 1860 - 1890

This stereograph, "View of a Waterfall in Italy", was made by Fratelli Alinari, a firm based in Florence and Rome. The process involved two cameras set a short distance apart, yielding two nearly identical images. When viewed through a stereoscope, the slight difference between the two photographs creates an illusion of depth. Photography in the 19th century was a complex combination of chemistry and optics. Wet collodion, the process used here, required coating a glass plate with light-sensitive chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. This demanded portable darkrooms, and considerable skill. The Alinari brothers were not just artists, but entrepreneurs, capitalizing on the growing tourist trade by producing images of Italian landmarks. These stereographs, mass-produced and relatively inexpensive, allowed people to take a piece of Italy home with them, and to experience the wonders of photography. This blend of artistic skill, technical expertise, and commercial savvy challenges our traditional ideas of both art and labor.