Bonaventure
1860/80
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Left image: 7.6 × 7.9 cm (3 × 3 1/8 in.); Right image: 7.6 × 7.6 cm (3 × 3 in.); Card: 8.7 × 17.6 cm (3 7/16 × 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
stereograph (albumen)
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
145928
Art Historical Context
This stereograph titled *Bonaventure*, created by photographer J. N. Wilson between 1860 and 1880, offers a fascinating glimpse into the early days of photography as both art and popular entertainment. The work consists of two nearly identical albumen prints mounted side by side on a card, designed to be viewed through a stereoscope. This technique creates a convincing three-dimensional effect, allowing viewers to experience depth and space as if standing within the scene itself. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg-white emulsion, were the dominant photographic medium of the mid-to...