Armchair travel in India c1900: the stereoscopic experience
Ames Online Library Guides
Not everyone was able to travel to India a century ago. Many people who did visit India published travel accounts in which they shared their accounts and impressions. Technological advances allowed additional means of learning more about India, one such development was the stereoscope, which offered the effect of 3D photography. This web page contains 103 stereoscopic views from a set which is in the Ames Library of South Asia. They were produced by two companies, the Stereo Travel Company, and, Underwood & Underwood Publishers. All of the pictures are available as single pictures. Several double/stereoscopic views are also included so that those who have the red and blue glasses (included in the August 1998 National Geographic as one source for them) can see the 3D effect. We have also produced a CD with the stereoscopic double views with a 300 resolution. Those interested in getting copies of it, or portions of it, should contact Don Johnson, Ames Library Curator, d-john4@umn.edu, (612)624-5801.
While it is tempting to comment upon the content of the sets it is better for the viewer to form his or her impressions directly from them. Each illustration vividly points out turn of the 20th century cultural values in perceiving and defining a country such as India. The original label given to each picture is provided to further document the cultural values of the time even though some of the terms today are not considered politically correct.
Search strategies:
The SEARCH ENGINE on the next page will allow you to see a list of all the pictures or select by publisher, by city or region, and/or by special topic. You may also construct a search using your own choice of keywords.
(Thanks to Jennifer Joffey, Mark Peasley, Reshu Aryal, Bruce Bruemmer and George Swan for their help and support with this project.)