Welcome

Welcome to another Luminous-Lint Newsletter.

Thanks for your support

To all Luminous-Lint subscribers and contributors I'd like to say thanks for your continuing support.

The Stereographs Project

The 1945 English edition of History of Photography by Josef Maria Eder had part of a chapter dedicated to the subject of stereographs. When one examines the frequently cited editions of The History of Photography by Beaumont Newhall one could be excused for not appreciating the significance of stereographs in photohistory. Within the volume only a few paragraphs and some halves of stereo pairs were included. The 1988 edition of Helmut Gernsheim's The Rise of Photography 1850-1880 The Age of Collodion includes a chapter but the illustrations concentrated on cameras and viewers rather than the stereoviews themselves.

Book cover for "Stereo Views - A History of Stereographs in America and their Collection" by William Culp Darrah, 1964, LL/11311
Stereoviews were largely overlooked except by collectors until the 1960s and it has been largely these dedicated researchers who pushed forward research. We can see this in the works of William Culp Darrah, 1964, Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection, (Gettysburg, PA: Times and News Publishing Co.); William Culp Darrah, 1977, The World of Stereographs, (Gettysburg, Pa.: William C. Darrah); T.K. Treadwell & William C. Darrah, 1994, Stereographers of the World. Vol. 1: Foreign; vol. 2: United States, (National Stereoscopic Association); John S. Waldsmith, 2002, Stereo Views: An Illustrated History and Price Guide, (Iola, WI: Gazelle). The National Stereoscopic Association (NSA) has added to this with enthusiasm and research supported by the journal Stereo World from 1974 onwards.

Without viewers publishing whole stereographs in books can be frustrating: there is little value except for those who can free view. Stereocards are usually 7 inches wide and 3.5 inches high and as such are small for public exhibits. Viewers have been included in many exhibitions but the size of stereoviews means that without large enlargements they can lose impact. I'm not saying by any means that stereocards can't be exhibited just that they require more curatorial thought than many other forms of photography.

The pioneering work of William Culp Darrah led to the creation of lists of photographers and these were greatly extended over the years by Tex Treadwell, Wolfgang Sell and a veritable army of dedicated collectors sharing information leading to publications by the NSA. These useful PDF lists are freely available on the 3D Lists (Historical Stereoview Resources) section of the NSA website.

Holzschnitt aus der Kaiserpanorama-Werbung (Invented by Augusta Fuhrmann), 1880, LL/61354
For many years during the creation and development of Luminous-Lint I've been building up online databases to push forward photohistory. I'm seeking to ensure that stereoviews are fully integrated into photohistory. Many stereo photographers, if not most, took multiple types of photography and we can only start to understand this with better quality data sets.

I've raised this issue with photohistorians and collectors over the years who saw the benefits but were put off by the effort involved. During the highly successful NSA Virtual 3-D conference (August 12-15, 2020) I raised the issue again.

I decided that to create research data sets that were usable it would require modifications to the Luminous-Lint data architecture that could free the data within the lists constructed by Darrah, Treadwell and others from their paper-based legacy. I started work on this undertaking and by the middle of December 2020 discussed the topic and provided a briefing document to Jeremy Rowe so he could discuss collaboration with the NSA board.

There are multiple issues involved in pulling apart data, converting it into a usable form, adding unique keys, correcting errors, standardising geographical names and a host of niggling issues.

These issues have been resolved and I'm pleased to announce that a beta release of the Stereographs Project is now available on the Luminous-Lint website.

This early release of the Stererographs Project includes the following.

On Luminous-Lint over 20,000 photographers are included and of these 12,433 are stereo photographers, of which 9,205 operated in the USA. Vast numbers of additions, corrections and enhancements have been made to the available data sets.
Stereo photographer indexes already include 39,593 alternative names. Improvements in these indexes are in progress.
Alan Griffiths, Screenshot of the top of the Photographers Alphabetical Index for the letter "R" (Stereographs Project), 6 March 2021, Screenshot, Luminous-Lint, LL/107741
The disambiguation of photographers with similar names is critical and this is addressed where appropriate.
Geographical indexes of stereo photographers by countries and states have been created and standardized.
Alan Griffiths, Screenshot of the top of the Locational Index for the UK (Stereographs Project), 6 March 2021, Screenshot, Luminous-Lint, LL/107742
Visual indexes to backlists with the highest quality versions available are now accessible.

Alan Griffiths, Screenshot of the Backlists Project (Stereographs Project), 6 March 2021, Screenshot, Luminous-Lint, LL/107743

Additional features being adding within the Stereographs Project over the coming months include:

Images of stereoviews, back labels, backlists and stamps will be linked to locations and themes. As Luminous-Lint has many thousands of examples provided by institutions and collectors around the world already indexed this can proceed quickly.
Illustrated thematic indexes to subjects covered by stereographs will be integrated into the over one thousand themes already available on Luminous-Lint.
Reading lists and online texts will be included starting with the bibliographies already available.

Thanks to all of you who have graciously provided images, biographies and support over the years.

Here are some links for you to get a sense of the Stereographs Project - have fun and let me know about any errors or clarifications.

Introduction
Photographers
Locations
Themes
Backlists (A bit slow this one.)

I hope you find this tentative first phase useful. It has already added over 140 million links to Luminous-Lint.

This is part of an encyclopedic project and I look forward to collaborating with organisations and collectors who wish to explore the best ways of sharing information on stereographs and their photographers to ensure they are embedded within photohistory.

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (8 March 2021)

The Photohistory Quests being carried out on Facebook are both enjoyable and informative. Many examples from private collections around the world have filled in gaps and rounded out our knowledge of obscure subjects. To date 322 Quests have been completed and thousands of photographs have arrived in. Thanks to everybody who is participating.

PHOTOHISTORY QUESTS:

FIRST SERIES: 1-100

1. Arms & Armour (29 March 2020)
2. Fruits (30 March 2020)
3. Vegetables (31 March 2020)
4. Birds (1 April 2020)
5. Clouds (2 April 2020)
6. Lightning and the damage it creates (3 April 2020)
7. Poppies (4 April 2020)
8. Butterflies and moths (5 April 2020)
9. Beds and bedrooms (6 April 2020)
10. Buddhism (7 April 2020)
11. Glaciers (8 April 2020)
12: Balloon and kite photography (9 April 2020)
13. Architectural models and drawings (10 April 2020)
14: Scotland: Rosslyn Chapel / Roslin Chapel (11 April 2020)
15. Events (12 April 2020)
16. Alcohol (13 April 2020)
17. Extinct animals (14 April 2020)
18. Ferns (15 April 2020)
19. Text and calligraphy (16 April 2020)
20. The Temple of Vesta, Rome (17 April 2020)
21. Umbrellas and parasols (18 April 2020)
22. Skulls (19 April 2020)
23. Archaeological finds (20 April 2020)
24. Insects - not butterflies or moths (21 April 2020)
25. Photomicroscopy (22 April 2020)
26. Judaism and Judaica (23 April 2020)
27. Non-architectural models (24 April 2020)
28. Domestic lighting, candlesticks, oil lamps and chandeliers (25 April 2020)
29. Stamps, wet, blind and embossed (26 April 2020)
30. Glass and crystal (27 April 2020)
31. Pottery, china, porcelain and ceramics (28 April 2020)
32. Collage and photomontage (29 April 2020)
33. Fountains (30 April 2020)
34. Iran (1 May 2020)
35. Charity (2 May 2020)
36. Italian Street Musicians - Pifferari (3 May 2020)
37. Vacant chairs (4 May 2020)
38. Landscape reflections in water (5 May 2020)
39. Paintings showing photographs and albums (6 May 2020)
40. Shop and business exteriors (7 May 2020)
41. Miners and mining (8 May 2020)
42. Construction of bridges, viaducts and aqueducts (9 May 2020)
43. Occupational portraits of women (10 May 2020)
44. Mosques (11 May 2020)
45. Roses (12 May 2020)
46. Egypt: Wall art, bas-relief, hieroglyphics and graffiti (13 May 2020)
47. Packaging photographs (14 May 2020)
48. St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome (15 May 2020)
49. Bas-relief sculpture (16 May 2020)
50. Hunters, their weapons and dogs (17 May 2020)
51. Fans (18 May 2020)
52. Central or Middle Asia (19 May 2020)
53. Counter-stamped coins, tokens and premiums for photographic studios (20 May 2020)
54. Jesus Christ (21 May 2020)
55. Water carriers (22 May 2020)
56. Anthropometry (23 May 2020)
57. Commercial catalogues for photographers (24 May 2020)
58. Singapore and the Malay Peninsula (25 May 2020)
59. Elephants (26 May 2020)
60. Lions (27 May 2020)
61. The Georgian Military Road (28 May 2020)
62. Playing cards (29 May 2020)
63. Sumo wrestling (30 May 2020)
64. The Cedars of Lebanon (31 May 2020)
65. Bread, flour based products, bakers and bakeries (1 June 2020)
66. Illustrations (not photos) showing women photographers (2 June 2020)
67. Cutlery - Knives, forks and spoons (3 June 2020)
68. Manufacturers and painters of studio backgrounds (4 June 2020)
69. The Balkans - excluding Greece (5 June 2020)
70. Patent illustrations related to photography (6 June 2020)
71. Maps and photography (7 June 2020)
72. Surveyors and cartographers (8 June 2020)
73. Peoples of the Arctic (9 June 2020)
74. Megalethoscopes and Alethoscopes (10 June 2020)
75. Work benches and darkrooms in photography studios (11 June 2020)
76. Burma (12 June 2020)
77. Cambodia (13 June 2020)
78. Vietnam (14 June 2020)
79. Armenia (15 June 2020)
80. Tableaux vivants (16 June 2020)
81. Magnesium light (17 June 2020)
82. Non-English language books and magazines with tipped-in photographs (18 June 2020)
83. Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions (19 June 2020)
84. Hand-painted landscapes and cityscapes devoid of people (20 June 2020)
85. Advertising albums (21 June 2020)
86. Tea (22 June 2020)
87. X-rays of animals (23 June 2020)
88. Bathrooms (24 June 2020)
89. Rubber trees, the collection of rubber, processing and products (25 June 2020)
90. Oil industry outside the USA (26 June 2020)
91. Eggs (27 June 2020)
92. Floods (28 June 2020)
93. Horses posing in front of painted backgrounds and painted walls (29 June 2020)
94. Airbrushing photographs (30 June 2020)
95. The internal geometry of bridges (1 July 2020)
96. Decorative ironwork (2 July 2020)
97. Cyanotypes of factories, workshops and industrial products (3 July 2020)
98. The constrained - handcuffs, leg irons, stocks and cangues (4 July 2020)
99. Cyanotypes of objects (5 July 2020)
100. Catacombs (6 July 2020)

SECOND SERIES: 101-200

101. Egypt: The Sphinx (7 July 2020)
102. The Great Wall of China (8 July 2020)
103. Magazines and journals with tipped-in photographs (9 July 2020)
104. Stonehenge (10 July 2020)
105. Plowing / Ploughing (11 July 2020)
106. Pigs (12 July 2020)
107. Oceanographic research (13 July 2020)
108. Hypnotism (14 July 2020)
109. Jerusalem: Valley of Jehoshaphat - Kidron Valley (15 July 2020)
110. Printing frames (16 July 2020)
111. Resellers of photographs and distribution chains (17 July 2020)
112. Mecca and the Haj (18 July 2020)
113. Footwear (19 July 2020)
114. Photographs with grids for copying and transfer (20 July 2020)
115. Medical specimens (21 July 2020)
116. The Anglo-Egyptian War (1882), the naval bombardment of Alexandria, the Battle of Tel el-Kebir, the key figures and the veterans (22 July 2020)
117. Samoa (23 July 2020)
118. Chile (24 July 2020)
119. Business stationary related to photography (25 July 2020)
120. Earthquakes (26 July 2020)
121. Poland (27 July 2020)
122. Orchids (28 July 2020)
123. Mashrabiya, projecting oriel windows enclosed with carved wood latticework, of Cairo and the Arab World (29 July 2020)
124. Viewpoints - looking up and looking down (30 July 2020)
125. Caribbean and surrounding islands (31 July 2020)
126. Utah: Devil's Slide (1 August 2020)
127. London, Trafalgar Square (2 August 2020)
128. Thomas Houseworth - Houseworth's Celebrities (3 August 2020)
129. Postage stamps and photography (4 August 2020)
130. Beirut (5 August 2020)
131. Telescopes (6 August 2020)
132. Cheese (7 August 2020)
133. Barbers and hairdressers (8 August 2020)
134. Second Schleswig War / Prussian-Danish War (1864) (10 August 2020)
135. Hung game (11 August 2020)
136. Algiers (12 August 2020)
137. Libya (13 August 2020)
138. Wales (14 August 2020)
139. Commercial, and amateur, cartes de visite portraits taken outside but next to the house (15 August 2020)
140. Stereoviews of archaeological sites (16 August 2020)
141. Advertising and promoting photographic products by linking them to scientific expeditions (17 August 2020)
142. Memory and photomontage (18 August 2020)
143. Grapes and grapevines (19 August 2020)
144. Antarctica (20 August 2020)
145. Blacksmiths (21 August 2020)
146. Posters for photographic exhibitions (22 August 2020)
147. Fotoscultura (Mexican folk art) (23 August 2020)
148. Iceland (24 August 2020)
149. Cangues (25 August 2020)
150. Arcade photo booths (26 August 2020)
151. The manufacture of photography-related items (27 August 2020)
152. Space Age studio props (28 August 2020)
153. Kamakura: Daibutsu - The Great Buddha / Amida Buddha, Kotoku-in (29 August 2020)
154. Studio marks and signatures in the negative (30 August 2020)
155. The use of electric light in photographic studios (31 August 2020)
156. The Camera Lucida (1 September 2020)
157. Graves of notable photographers (2 September 2020)
158. Spirit Photography and paranormal manifestations (3 September 2020)
159. Yemen (4 September 2020)
160. Nasir al-Din Shah (5 September 2020)
161. Seaweed (6 September 2020)
162. Sarony and celebrities (7 September 2020)
163. Luxembourg (8 September 2020)
164. Interiors of Railroad Photographic Studios (9 September 2020)
165. Mormons (10 September 2020)
166. Dark tents and dark boxes (11 September 2020)
167. Camera stands and tripods (12 September 2020)
168. Solar Enlargers (13 September 2020)
169. Jerusalem: Church of the Holy Sepulchre (14 September 2020)
170. Cultural appropriation (15 September 2020)
171. Designs for backgrounds without people (16 September 2020)
172. Fakes, forgeries, tricks and deceptions (17 September 2020)
173. Refugees and migrants (18 September 2020)
174. Graphoscopes (19 September 2020)
175. Orotones (20 September 2020)
176. Tents used by prographers to ply their trade (21 September 2020)
177. Packaging for daguerreotypes (22 September 2020)
178.Proof copies (23 September 2020)
179. Afghanistan (24 September 2020)
180. Taxidermy (25 September 2020)
181. François Willème: Photosculpture (26 September 2020)
182. The Paris Commune and the Communards (27 September 2020)
183. Cartes de visite and cabinet cards of politicians and political events (28 September 2020)
184. Postmen and letter carriers (29 September 2020)
185. Shop window displays (30 September 2020)
186. Golf (1 October 2020)
187. Nomads of Central Asia (2 October 2020)
188. Trucks, semis, lorries, eighteen-wheeler, etc. (3 October 2020)
189. Architectural plans for photographic studios (4 October 2020)
190. More recent and non-US examples of the "helping hand", "hidden mother" and "hidden father" portraits (5 October 2020)
191. Tsar Bell, Tsarsky Kolokol, Tsar Kolokol III, or Royal Bell, Kremlin, Moscow (6 October 2020)
192. François Aubert: The execution of Emperor Maximilian - 1875 (7 October 2020)
193. Desert landscapes with no people (8 October 2020)
194. Models and toys related to photography (9 October 2020)
195. Cliffs (10 October 2020)
196. Obelisk of Theodosius, Istanbul (11 October 2020)
197. Photobooths in use (12 October 2020)
198. Camera clubs, photographic societies and cooperatives (13 October 2020)
199. Malta (14 October 2020)
200. Violins and fiddles (15 October 2020)

THIRD SERIES: 201-300

201. Autochromes: Trees, flowers, vegetables and fruits (16 October 2020)
202. The construction of underground railways, subways and stations (17 October 2020)
203. Porters from around the world (18 October 2020)
204. The hidden face (19 October 2020)
205. Bhutan (20 October 2020)
206. The architecture of Colonialism (21 October 2020)
207. Shells (22 October 2020)
208. Prisoners of war (23 October 2020)
209. Surveillance (24 October 2020)
210. Ears (25 October 2020)
211. Landscape: Rural pathways, tracks, trails and lanes (26 October 2020)
212. Landscape: Forests - a sense of being enclosed or trapped within the trees (27 October 2020)
213. Landscape: Non-US Waterrfalls (28 October 2020)
214. Geysers (29 October 2020)
215. Dams and their construction (30 October 2020)
216. Landscapes of Asia (31 October 2020) 217. People sleeping on the street or in public (1 November 2020)
218. Spain: Granada: Alhambra (2 November 2020)
219. The indigenous peoples of South America (3 November 2020)
220. Guidelines for sitters (4 November 2020)
221. Housing conditions (5 November 2020)
222. French Polynesia, Tahiti and the island groups (6 November 2020)
223. Traditional costumes of Switzerland (7 November 2020)
224. Chemigrams (8 November 2020)
225. Italian Risorgimento (1849-1871) (9 November 2020)
226. Film posters, lobby cards and publicity images for films about photographers (10 November 2020)
227. Examination of an Civil War era albumen print photomontage (11 November 2020)
228. Studio flooring, carpets and rugs as an aid to photographer identification (12 November 2020)
229. Pictorialism and men with hats (13 November 2020)
230. Markets (14 November 2020)
231. Amsterdam (15 November 2020)
232. The weirdest real photo postcards (16 November 2020)
233. Fotonovelas and stories illustrated with photographs (17 November 2020)
234. Man Ray: Rayograms (18 November 2020)
235. László Moholy-Nagy (19 November 2020)
236. Modernism in Canada (20 November 2020)
237. Chariots (21 November 2020)
238. Studio props as symbols of status and modernity (22 November 2020)
239. Eating disorders (23 November 2020)
240. Cabinet cards with cartes de visite backmarks (24 November 2020)
241. Volkswagen (25 November 2020)
242. Infrared photography (26 November 2020)
243. The Palestine Exploration Fund (27 November 2020)
244. Stereoviews of the Indian subcontinent (28 November 2020)
245. Occupationals - Policemen and policewomen (29 November 2020)
246. Backlists on stereoviews (30 November 2020)
247. Vienna (Wien), Weltausstellung - Photographs taken or exhibited (1 December 2020)
248. Great Zimbabwe (2 December 2020)
249. How photographers have been depicted in Japanese art (3 December 2020)
250. The Canadian North (4 December 2020)
251. The use of multiple languages on card mounted photographs (5 December 2020)
252. The Trevi Fountain, Rome (6 December 2020)
253. The Spanish American War, 1898 (7 December 2020)
254. Photogrammetry, photo-theodolites and camera transits (8 December 2020)
255. Explosions (9 December 2020)
256. Alabama (10 December 2020)
257. Solarization (11 December 2020)
258. Snapshots, amateur photography and humor (12 December 2020)
259. Televisions (13 December 2020)
260. Alaska (14 December 2020)
261. Backmarks from the Middle East (15 December 2020)
262. Inappropriate studio props (16 December 2020)
263. Greetings cards from photographers (17 December 2020)
264. Winter activities (18 December 2020)
265. Arizona (19 December 2020)
266. Roger Fenton at the British Museum (20 December 2020)
267. Ireland: Nationalism, the Easter Rising (1916) and its aftermath (21 December 2020)
268. Arab states of the Persian Gulf (22 December 2020)
269. Rural Churches (23 December 2020)
270. Backmarks for women photographers (24 December 2020)
271. Packaging materials (25 December 2020)
272. Boxing (26 December 2020)
273. X-rays of the hand (27 December 2020)
274. Portraits of stereo photographers and publishers of stereographs (28 December 2020)
275. Nineteenth century books illustrated with stereo photographs (29 December 2020)
276. The Flatiron Building, New York (30 December 2020)
277. Military veterans (31 December 2020)
278. Food (1 January 2021)
279. Hand-painted photographs from India (2 January 2021)
280. Obscure American stereoview photographers (3 January 2021)
281. Norwegian landscapes (4 January 2021)
282. Stamped preservers (5 January 2021)
283. Photographic connections with opticians and optometry (6 January 2021)
284. The Boer War, 1899-1902 (7 January 2021)
285. Wicker chairs and tables in photographic studios (8 January 2021)
286. Swimming and diving (9 January 2021)
287. Political badges, pins, election ribbons, campaign medals (10 January 2021)
288. Stereographs of Mexico and Central America (11 January 2021)
289. Polaroid abstractions (14 January 2021)
290. Installation views of photographic exhibitions (15 January 2021)
291. Handbags and purses (16 January 2021)
292. Mascher cases and stereoscopes (18 January 2021)
293. Annam and the fingernails of the Annamites (19 January 2021)
294. Veils (20 January 2021)
295. Backmarks, labels and ephemera for itinerant photographers and traveling artists (25 January 2021)
296. Links between stereographs and advertising (26 January 2021)
297. Bird cages (27 January 2021)
298. Stereoviews of landscapes (28 January 2021)
299. Warsaw (29 January 2021)
300. Illustrations of landscapes based on photographs (30 January 2021)


FOURTH SERIES: 301-400

301. Tunisia (1 February 2021)
302. Photographs with paint or instructions to assist in publication (2 February 2021)
303. Canoes and kayaks (3 February 2021)
304. Jamaica (4 February 2021)
305. Bottles and glassware for photographic chemicals (5 February 2021)
306. Timber, lumber, log rolling and the forestry industry (7 February 2021)
307. Your favorite painted stereoview (8 February 2021)
308. Stereoview libraries (9 February 2021)
309. Flood - "The Johnstown Calamity" (10 February 2021)
310. Stereoviews of China (11 February 2021)
311. Cartes de visite series on towns and cities (12 February 2021)
312. The Philippines (13 February 2021)
313. Washington, D.C. (16 February 2021)
314. People in peril (17 February 2021)
315. Stereoview disambiguation (18 February 2021)
316. Stereoviews of the Arctic or connected to it (28 February 2021)
317. Stereoviews of Russia (1 March 2021)
318. Stereoviews of Alabama (2 March 2021)
319. Motorcycles and scooters (3 March 2021)
320. Military veterans (4 March 2021)
321. Photographic medals and awards (5 March 2021)
322. X-rays of the natural world (7 March 2021)

The quests at first appear to be random but they are not. Each quest is to fill a specific requirement on Luminous-Lint. Quests are open to all so if you have a research question send it through.

FACEBOOK group: PHOTOHISTORY QUESTS

Here the photographs are not limited to a technique or date as I'm delving into the outer reaches of what is available in photography. My deepest appreciation to all of you who have participated in the QUESTS to date and you can see everybody who has provided images to Luminous-Lint here:

Luminous-Lint: Acknowledgements

Thanks again for all your help over the years.

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

During COVID-19 I made Luminous-Lint was free to all from 22nd March until 31th May 2020 to allow students access to resources. A FREE TRIAL for the website is still available so send an email to alan@luminous-lint.com with your name and reasons for wanting to take a look and I'll set up a password for you.

Educational subscriptions

During the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an increasing need for distance learning and this looks set to continue. Students and staff require access to visual resources on photohistory at a time when libraries are closed and books can not include the range of images necessary to understand a topic with any level of depth. Luminous-Lint continues to provide structured resources on photohistory to all. It costs $300 a year for all your staff and students to have access to the best resource there is.

It is time to ensure that your subscription to Luminous-Lint has been confirmed. Please check with whoever manages subscriptions to digital resources to ensure all is well. If you are a professor, researcher or student requiring access to Luminous-Lint please contact your Head of Department or Librarian.

If you need any assistance with curriculum planning or resources to supplement your courses send me an email.

Getting around

Stereographs Project

Library

Video feeds, audio feeds, and enhanced media documents

Welcome

Thanks for your support

The Stereographs Project

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (8 March 2021)

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

Educational subscriptions

Recently updated Themes

Getting around

PhotographersConnectionsDirectory

Stereographs Project

Library

Video feeds, audio feeds, and enhanced media documents

Welcome

Thanks for your support

The Stereographs Project

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (8 March 2021)

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

Educational subscriptions

Recently updated Themes