FAQ
What’s with these side-by-side photos?
Those are called stereograms and they were quite popular in the 19th century. These require special “stereoscope” viewers to get the full effect but it’s also possible (with training) to cross your eyes to create the intended optical illusion. The Getty Museum has a great explanation on their website that goes into more detail. There are also a number of “fan pages” online with examples from other time periods. If you’re really interested in getting the full experience, it is relatively easy to find a used stereoscope through online auction sites like eBay.
So you’re telling me these photos are over 100 years old? How have they survived so long?
Preserving photographs is literally a race against time – the images that exists today are only here thanks to the hard work of archivists, librarians, museum curators, collectors and other enthusiasts who saw the value of these images far before anyone could fully understand their importance. To learn more about photo preservation we recommend reading more at the Image Permanence Institute.
Here’s a nice quote from the National Archives website that explains the situation in greater detail:
“Some of these photographs have found their way into the National Archives as record materials of several Federal bureaus and offices, such as the Bureaus of Land Management, Indian Affairs, Public Roads, Weather, Agricultural Economics, and Reclamation; the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Geological Survey, boundary and claims commissions and arbitrations, the Corps of Engineers, the Forest Service, and the Signal Corps. The photographs listed below were selected from the records of these agencies now on deposit in the National Archives.”
What were other photographers doing around this time?
It’s true, the scope of this website only touches the surface of photographic activity in the American west durring this time period. For example, portrait photography was quite popular in metropolitan areas among those who could afford it. Other photographers and inventors, like Eadweard Muybridge, were just beginning to experiment with motion pictures. There were also photographic expeditions talking place in Alaska and other parts of the world as well. Other cultural groups, like the Native Americans, were also being photographed and unfortunately, in some cases exploited.
Where can I learn more?
There’s always more than one side to a story and we encourage you to explore this topic through multiple viewpoints – thats why this website includes a comprehensive bibliography that you can find by clicking on “more info” button in the right hand column of every page.
Who made this website?
This website was created as a group project for a course at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. We’re [soon to be] librarians! The authors names are listed at the bottom of every page under the “contact” section.
