IJsformaties onder de Horseshoe Falls 1867 - 1891

This stereo card of the Horseshoe Falls in winter was produced by Charles Bierstadt. Stereo cards like this one were the virtual reality of their day, made with a special camera with two lenses, and presented in a viewing device. These images were mass-produced, made for a new tourist industry centered on the spectacle of Niagara Falls. The wet collodion process was used to create a glass negative, then printed on paper. This was a commercial operation involving specialized labor. The very subject, ice, is evidence of a kind of production. Water is the raw material, and cold air the tool. The resulting forms are as varied as blown glass, some are slender and fragile, others bulky and strong. These are fleeting sculptures made by nature's own hand. Considering the relationship between industry and craft is key to fully understanding the meaning of this image.