I can’t stop thinking about this image, taken from half a stereoview by T.W. Ingersoll of St. Paul. I believe the man closest to the camera is H.H. Bennett, and the setting is Bennett’s beloved Wisconsin Dells. Adding figures to a stereoview is a standard practice to highlight the scale and to contribute to the illusion of depth.
The professional photographic community of the late nineteenth century seems to be loosely joined, and yet profoundly important. It was as if they used each other to measure themselves, as they competed for the scarce discretionary dollars available to consumers. They inevitably crossed, sharing some secrets while protecting others— conscious of the need for connection while careful to assert their independence from each other.
The littered path, constructed from timbers, is a common feature of most of the photographs of the canyons of the dells. The whole scene is constructed, not in a carefully thought out way, but rather as if they just threw things down in order to have a place to stand.
