This double photograph is a stereograph – a stereoscopic photograph. It is in a stereoscope – a stereoscopic viewer.
The two photos are what each of our eyes sees. They are taken by a double lens camera with the lens spaced apart like our eyes.
The stereoscope holding the card has two magnifying glasses. When it's held against the face like goggles, the two photos appear to merge together into an enlarged single 3D image. It's like virtual reality of the past.
This stereograph is of Lake Albert Public School in Wagga Wagga in south-western NSW in about 1894. The schoolroom is at the back and the teacher's house at the front.
Teacher and photographer John Saunders Middenway is in the centre of the photo. He taught at Wagga Wagga Superior Public School and is visiting Lake Albert in this photograph.
Perhaps his wife Sarah pressed the shutter on the big dual lens camera for this shot.
The John Saunders Middenway stereographs in our collection relate to his postings as headmaster of Wagga Wagga Superior Public School in 1892-1894 and as headmaster of Bexley Public School in 1895-1917 where he retired.
They are a unique personal set of stereographs created by a teacher. They record aspects of his family’s life, children and schools from the 1880s to early 1900s.
Date – circa 1894
Creator – John Saunders Middenway
Place – Wagga Wagga
Materials – photographic paper, card
Dimensions – card size 17.7cm x 8.8cm
Left to right:
The boy and girl are probably John Middenway's son Gerritt, about 14 years old, and daughter Ada, about 12 years old.
Teacher John Saunders Middenway of Wagga Wagga Superior Public School is in the centre.
The girl in the apron might be a pupil teacher – they started at 14 years of age
The woman might be the Lake Albert teacher.
What clothing is each person wearing?
What do you notice about the windows on the school building at the back?
What do you notice about the school grounds?
How is the school building similar and different to buildings at your school?
How are the school grounds similar and different to your school grounds?
How would the Middenways have travelled the 6 miles (10 kilometres) from Wagga Wagga Superior School to Lake Albert Public School?
Why might the stereograph been taken?
What do you wonder about stereographs?
What do you wonder about the subject matter of this stereograph?
What questions does it raise?
Create a present day version of the photograph outside your learning space.
Compose your photograph so it tells the story of present-day learning spaces.
What will people wonder about your photograph in 130 years time?
A stereoscope was used to view stereographs – double photographs. The parts of a stereoscope are:
a 'shelf' for the photo card that can be moved back and forth to enable focussing
clips to hold a photo card in place
handle to hold the stereoscope close to the face
casing with a soft edge to fit onto the face
two square magnifying glasses inside the casing to enlarge the photographs
a timber divider outside the casing to keep the views separate.
Because the viewer blocks out everything else, it feels like being in the photograph.
Hold the viewer against the face.
Look through the lenses to the photos.
Move the card holder so it is the photograph is in focus and merges together as a single picture.
The photo will look larger and three dimensional - 3D.
How is a stereoscope similar and different to 3D glasses or virtual reality headsets?
In this stereograph John (Jack) Middenway, 6 years old, and his sister Grace, 13 years old, are sitting on a bench seat at a long tom desk. Their father is the school's headmaster, Mr John Saunders Middenway so we assume it is taken at Bexley Public School.
Mr JS Middenway moved from his posting at Wagga Wagga Superior Public School to be headmaster of Bexley Public School from 1895 to 1917.
During his time at Wagga Wagga and Bexley he took photographs of his family, surroundings and their lives.
In this stereograph, both children are writing on slate boards. There is a wooden pencil box on the desk. The title 'Kept in' and the children's tidy appearance indicates it is a posed shot.
What information does the photograph provide about classroom interiors of the past?
What does it provide about writing technologies?
What questions does it raise?
This stereograph was published by Underwood and Underwood Publishers. It shows a small country school in Ireland. The children in the foreground are playing a circle game and the boys in the background are demonstrating drill exercises using wands and dumb bells. The teacher is standing by the schoolroom door.
Stereographs were used in homes for 'virtual travel' in a time before movies, television, Google Street View and accessible travel.
Boxed sets of stereographs of people and places in the world could be purchased. They were advertised in newspapers, magazines and by door-to-door salesmen. Advertising phrases included:
'See around the world with your stereoscope'
'Around the world in sixty minutes'
'A tour of the world by stereoscope'.
It is not known if stereographs and stereoscopes were used in schools in NSW.
Are there similarities in the school and children depicted in this Irish stereograph to the Lake Albert Public School stereograph shown above?
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands of people using this site. Is, always was, always will be – Aboriginal land.