Gezicht op de Meldon nabij Chagford c. 1850 - 1880

This is a stereoscopic photograph of the Meldon area near Chagford, made by Francis Bedford sometime in the mid-19th century. It's a double image printed on paper, meant to be viewed through a special device that creates an illusion of three dimensions. The photographic process itself is critical here. Bedford was working in a period when photography was becoming increasingly industrialized, yet still required considerable skill. The making of photographs involved coating glass plates with light-sensitive emulsion, exposing them in the camera, and then developing the images in a darkroom. Each step demanded precision and craft. The very act of capturing a scene like this was tied to wider social issues. Photography democratized image-making to some extent, but also became a tool for documenting and celebrating the landscape—often in ways that obscured the realities of labor and land use. By focusing on the material and the making, we can see how photography participates in a complex dance between art, industry, and social context. It challenges us to consider the labor and technology behind even the most seemingly straightforward images.