Gezicht op de rede te Bordeaux 1862 - 1876

This stereoscopic photograph of Bordeaux was produced by Jean Andrieu sometime in the mid-19th century, using a process that was then at the cutting edge of technology. Photography, like other mechanical means of reproduction such as printing, has always been tied to wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. Note that the image is presented in stereoscope. With the aid of a special viewer, one would have experienced a crude kind of virtual reality: the illusion of standing above this bustling mercantile city. Look closely, and you’ll see the hard work embodied in every aspect of the view: the physical labor involved in constructing the buildings, and especially the ships, which bespeak global networks of trade and exploitation. When you consider it this way, the photograph becomes more than a souvenir. It’s a document of a particular moment in the history of capitalism.