Midway Plaisance from Ill. Central Viaduct 1887 - 1893

Here we see Henry Hamilton Bennett's stereograph, capturing the Midway Plaisance during the Chicago World's Fair. The sepia tones imbue a sense of historical distance, yet the bustling scene feels immediate. Bennett employs a structuralist approach, presenting two nearly identical images side by side. This setup invites us to analyze the minute variations, akin to Saussure's concept of difference as the basis of meaning. The composition is densely packed, filled with fairgoers, each figure a signifier within the larger cultural spectacle. The architecture in the background, with its imposing towers and flags, functions as a set of codes, evoking progress and national pride. The stereoscopic format itself plays with perception, offering a three-dimensional illusion. This visual trickery underscores the idea that representation is always a construction, never a direct reflection of reality. The fair, as captured here, becomes a site of semiotic play, where meanings are both created and destabilized.