Photography as “writing with light” had never been so materially rendered. In the experience of both media, the physical support of the image became invisible, with only luminescence and shadow remaining. The contemplation of glass views in a stereoscope, back-lit and magnified by the device’s lenses, pulled the viewer into a three-dimensional scene that was more detailed than anything seen on paper. Slide projection spectacularly transformed pocket-sized glass photographs into unprecedentedly large, luminous images full of minutia as never experienced before. I establish an early history of the photographic lantern slide and of the glass stereoview, showing how each associated photography with another spectacular form of entertainment to propose an immersive and captivating experience of the photographic image. Leaving aside the well known glass negative, this article focuses on glass positives and on how creative entrepreneurs used them to capitalize on the transparency and precision glass favored in photography. We now think of glass-based photography as cumbersome and fragile, but its invention circa 1850 inspired new and successful commercial products that exploited what were very desirable qualities.
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