Cathedral Rocks, height 2,660 ft., Yo Semite Valley, Cal., No. 537 from the series "Yosemite Valley, Cal."
1870/76
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 7.7 × 7.3 cm (3 1/16 × 2 7/8 in.); Card: 8.7 × 17.5 cm (3 7/16 × 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
stereograph (albumen)
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
103157
Art Historical Context
Step into the majestic Yosemite Valley through J.J. Reilly's *Cathedral Rocks, height 2,660 ft., Yo Semite Valley,.* (No. 537 from the "Yosemite Valley Cal." series), an albumen stereograph captured between 1870 and 1876. This petite yet powerful image (each 7.7 × 7.3 cm) showcases the towering granite formations of Cathedral Rocks, their sheer scale evoked by the precise height notation—a nod to the era's awe for America's wild frontiers. As a stereograph, Reilly's work transforms flat photography into a three-dimensional wonder when viewed through a stereoscope, mimicking human binocular vi...