Geboortehuis van beeldhouwer Hiram Powers te Woodstock, Vermont 1859 - 1862

Franklin Benjamin Gage made this stereoscopic photograph of Hiram Powers' birthplace in Woodstock, Vermont. The pale sepia tones and matched perspectives create an almost uncanny doubling. The house is centrally positioned, its simple, rectangular form and pitched roof rendered with a clear, almost clinical precision. Gage’s choice of the stereoscopic form—presenting two nearly identical images side by side—encourages a particular reading of space and structure. The subtle shifts in perspective invite the eye to reconcile two views into a single, deepened image. This doubling might also reflect a semiotic strategy, emphasizing the concept of "home" through repetition, reinforcing its symbolic weight. The composition’s stark simplicity draws attention to the materiality of the house itself. The photograph serves not merely as a record but as an artifact that prompts consideration of how architectural form shapes cultural memory and identity. It suggests that meaning is found not just in what is depicted, but how it is formally presented.