Gezicht op het stationsgebouw aan het Rogierplein in Brussel 1861 - 1870

This stereograph by the artist known as BT captures the station building at Rogierplein in Brussels. The photograph on card represents a fascinating intersection of technology, labor, and social context. Photography itself was a relatively new medium at the time, requiring specialized knowledge and equipment. The creation of stereographs involved a complex process of capturing two slightly different perspectives of the same scene, then mounting them side-by-side to create an illusion of depth when viewed through a stereoscope. This was a commercial process, intended to bring the world to a mass audience. Consider the social implications: photography democratized image-making, allowing ordinary people to access visual representations of distant places and events. But its production also relied on the labor of skilled technicians and factory workers. The image itself captures a bustling public space, a site of transit and commerce where people from different social classes would have converged. Ultimately, this stereograph invites us to consider the complex relationship between technology, labor, and society in the 19th century, blurring the lines between art, industry, and everyday life.