Nourmahal Cascade, from the South 1875 - 1899

H.D. Udall made this stereograph of Nourmahal Cascade in Garrettsville, Ohio. It's a double image on a card, designed to create a 3D effect when viewed through a special device. The photographic process itself is central to understanding this artwork. In the 19th century, photography was still relatively new. Reproducing images was becoming easier through industrialization and processes like stereography. The card itself is an important part of this story, as the commercial branding is printed in a bold yellow, a by-product of the industrial revolution’s impact on the art and design landscape. The image captures a natural scene, but its creation and distribution were driven by the desire to see and experience the sublime, and to consume leisure activity on a mass scale. So, while "art" and "craft" are often thought of as distinct categories, looking closely at how something was made, and who it was made for, shows us that these categories are intertwined with the history of labor, technology, and commerce.