Interior View, Libby Prison, from the series "Views at Libby Prison, Chicago"
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 10 × 7.5 cm (3 15/16 × 3 in.); Card: 10.7 × 17.7 cm (4 1/4 × 7 in.)
Classification
photography
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
197746
Art Historical Context
Henry Hamilton Bennett’s “Interior View, Libby Prison” is a stereoscopic albumen print created in 1893 as part of his series documenting the notorious Confederate prison after it was relocated to Chicago. The compact double-image format, mounted on a 4¼-by-7-inch card, was designed to be viewed through a stereoscope, producing a striking three-dimensional effect that brought viewers inside the stark brick walls and iron-barred windows of the former Civil War site. Albumen prints were the dominant photographic medium of the late nineteenth century, prized for their fine detail and rich tonal r...
About the Artist
Henry Hamilton Bennett · 1843–1908
Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843–1908) was a pioneering American photographer whose breathtaking images of the Wisconsin Dells transformed a rugged river gorge into one of the nation's premier tourist destinations. Born in Farnham, Quebec, Canada, on January 15, 1843, Bennett moved with his family to Brattleboro, Vermont, before settling in Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells), Wisconsin, in 1857 at ag...