View in Glyn-Lledr 1859

Roger Fenton produced this stereoscopic photograph of Glyn-Lledr in Wales, some time in the mid-19th century. Stereoscopy offered viewers of the Victorian era a new kind of aesthetic experience; the illusion of three-dimensionality was highly popular. In Britain, figures such as Prince Albert saw the technology as useful for education, and for communicating the achievements of British engineering across the empire. Indeed, the crystal palace was a popular subject for stereoscopic images, and the technology was closely associated with the industrial revolution. Fenton made a name for himself documenting the Crimean war, but he also produced landscapes like this one, catering to the market for picturesque views of the British countryside. The challenge for today's historian is to understand how such images might be both aesthetic and ideological. Detailed research into the photographic journals of the period will help us to understand the social and cultural context.