Over 5,000 stereographs from the 19th and early 20th century are in the Yosemite Museum. Stereographs are an early form of three-dimensional photography and were very popular for documenting major events of the time. As the predecessor to the Polaroid it worked like this: you placed two almost identical photographs side by side, and when viewed through a stereoscope, the photograph appeared three-dimensional.

Yosemite Conservancy donor funding ensures these irreplaceable images are preserved through digitization. Also, much of the important details in these stereos are only visible when they are seen in a stereo viewer, and new enlarged images will not need a viewer.

In this new digital format these images are available to many more people to explore Yosemite’s history.

Barbara Beroza

Exhibit Curator

Project Notes

The public has been able to see pieces from the collection that would otherwise remain in storage, and the exhibits enhance their Yosemite experience.