Americans, 1869–1945 and 1875-1963
Crossing a glacier near Monte Cristo, 1902
Black-and-white stereograph
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington
The public’s enthusiasm for accurate depictions of nature inspired landscape photographers to create stereographic prints of glaciers that could be viewed in three dimensions. In Darius Kinsey’s portrait of his wife, Tabitha, who developed and printed his photographs, the viewer becomes part of the scene, pausing at the glacier on Wilman’s Peak in the Washington Cascades.
The difficulty of high-altitude climbing while wearing impractical clothes underscores the determination of women to experience mountaineering. Hundreds of photographs in museums and alpine club archives document the allure of climbing for European and American women.