Saddle Rock n.d.

This stereograph shows a waterfall at Saddle Rock, and was produced at an unknown date by an anonymous photographer. Stereographs like this one were very popular in the United States starting in the mid-19th century. To view them, people used a special binocular viewer. The sensation of binocular vision created an immersive, almost virtual experience. What was the appeal of this technology? The late 19th century was a time of massive industrial expansion. The opening of the West brought new forms of transportation and communication, such as railroads and the telegraph, and the production of images was also changing rapidly. Mass-produced landscape views played a crucial role in the development of tourism and consumer culture. Places that were once remote became accessible to middle-class Americans, who could now experience them through images. Understanding this phenomenon requires considering the social context and the institutional structures that facilitated the production and consumption of these images.