Three Brothers - Yosemite Valley, California, No. 262 from the series "California"
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 7.8 × 7.1 cm (3 1/8 × 2 13/16 in.); Card: 8.6 × 17.4 cm (3 7/16 × 6 7/8 in.)
Classification
stereograph (albumen)
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
143978
Art Historical Context
Captured in 1865 by the San Francisco firm Thomas Houseworth and Company, “Three Brothers—Yosemite Valley, California” belongs to their ambitious series “California.” This albumen stereograph presents the striking granite formation known as the Three Brothers, rendered in twin images just under three inches wide. When viewed through a stereoscope, the pair merges into a single, lifelike scene that lets nineteenth-century audiences experience the scale and drama of Yosemite from afar. Stereographs like this one were among the most popular photographic formats of the era, combining the rich ton...