Illustrated Lecture by Michael Leja: “3D Photographs of a Flattened World: Trains, Stereographs, and the Langenheim Brothers”

Dr. Michael Leja (James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor Emeritus of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania) discusses how high-speed, steam-powered trains gave mid-19^th-century travelers a new visual experience of the passing scenery. Some writers described the fleeting world seen from the speeding train’s window as flattened, like “pictures on a wall” or “a panorama on canvas.” At the same time, innovative photographers were experimenting with new ways of representing the sights along train routes in series of stereographs—that is, double images that gave an illusion of three dimensions when seen through a viewer. Pictures taken on the rail line between Philadelphia and Niagara Falls by the Langenheim Brothers provide a window into the rich and complex interplay at this time between trains and photographs, two iconic forms of modern technology.

Lecture followed by audience Q&A. Attendees are invited to explore the exhibition All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840-1955 before or after the talk.

Free to Members or with Museum admission.