Wheat Stack (Looking up the river. Walls, 2000 feet.) 1871

Curator: This stereograph, entitled "Wheat Stack (Looking up the river. Walls, 2000 feet.)" is from an artist named Elias Olcott Beaman, though we don't have exact dates for him. Editor: It feels so…quiet, almost unsettling. The stark branches against those imposing rock faces create a sense of isolation. Curator: Stereographs like this were very popular as tools of exploration, allowing people to "visit" remote landscapes from the comfort of their homes. Consider the impact on indigenous populations of these representations. Editor: Right, the seemingly objective landscape is loaded. Who is this vision for? And what stories are intentionally, or unintentionally, left out? Curator: Exactly. The act of framing a scene inherently involves exclusion, dictating whose perspective matters. Editor: It encourages us to actively question the power dynamics at play. A beautiful, unsettling reminder of the stories behind the image. Curator: Precisely. It’s a call to contextualize and to look beyond the surface.