Vista de La Rioja, Córdoba y Buenos Aires. Argentina. Circa 1930.

Collection of 86 stereoscopic photographs -measures: x cm- in glass. All digitized images are delivered together with the work study. In good condition.

The set is mainly dedicated to the province of La Rioja; except for a few, taken over Córdoba and the port of Buenos Aires. Most of them are referenced on a strip of white paper with their texts typed and glued vertically, between the two images.

The author of these photographs -all of the plein air type- used a stereoscopic handheld camera, probably French, to record various locations, both in the north and south of the province. The towns and regions photographed in the south were Chamical, Olta and Malanzán, while the northern ones include Famatina, Sañogasta, Nonogasta and Chilecito, as well as the Llanos region. Ditching works and large irrigation canals, the famous Famatina rail wire and various routes and stations of the Northern Argentine Railway are shown. The restless camera of this notable amateur, perhaps an engineer hired in one of those works, also pointed to other reasons far from his profession, such as typical mud and straw ranches, indigenous communities and interesting mountain landscapes and high peaks. To this special Riojan iconography must be added some views of the province of Córdoba -especially the famous San Roque dam plant-, and several records of the port of Buenos Aires with its docks, tugboats and overseas ships. Finally, the portrait of a gentleman with a mustache and a certain age, who could well be the author of these photographs.

In reference to the records on the province of La Rioja, we must point out that, to our knowledge, its photographic heritage is rather scarce, so that this collection contributes with a new graphic documentation, of importance due to its technical and geographical contributions. and social.

Stereoscopic photography is a technical process designed to obtain two slightly different images with the same record, as they are taken with a special dual-lens camera. Observed through a viewfinder with two lenses, they allow to reconstruct the three-dimensional image of human vision.

The novelty had its heyday from the mid-1850s well into the early part of the 20th century. It was embraced with enthusiasm especially by amateur photographers of a certain economic level who documented their families, mansions, stays and trips around the country and abroad. Photographic historians refer to this system as 19th century television.

In our country it was adopted especially by the powerful Argentine Amateur Photographic Society (1889-1926); its partners held internal competitions and, in the Buenos Aires headquarters, there were numerous stereoscopic viewers to evaluate these special images among its members.

By Abel Alexander

President of the Ibero-American Society for the History of Photography