Cascadilla Creek, Ithaca, N.Y. 2nd Fall 1860 - 1865

This stereograph by J.C. Burritt captures Cascadilla Creek in Ithaca, New York, presenting two slightly offset images designed to create an illusion of depth. The composition invites us to consider how the technological apparatus frames and constructs our perception of space. The cascading water, rendered in varying shades of gray, dominates the visual field, its textured surface creating a dynamic interplay with the static, dark trees that flank the creek. This contrast draws attention to the structure of the image itself. By using dual images, Burritt heightens the artifice, underlining that what we are seeing is not a direct representation of reality but a constructed view mediated through the lens. The stereograph, therefore, functions as a sign, pointing not just to a landscape, but to the technology and cultural practices shaping nineteenth-century vision. It prompts us to reflect on how such images participate in larger discourses about nature, representation, and the mediation of experience.