Stereography, instantaneity and colonial space. George N. Barnard in Havana

Abstract

In 1860, the American photographer George N. Barnard made an extensive collection of stereoscopic views in Cuba on behalf of the E. Anthony house in New York. In the series were recorded aspects of architecture, urbanism, colonial power, the system of slave labor, among others, which open multiple possibilities for research of Cuban society and culture of XIX century. Numerous instantaneous views, photographic modality that at the moment of being used in Cuba only had a minimal background are part of the whole. This essay provides information to establish this series and, taking into account the discursive relationships between instantaneous photography and modernization, analyzes the functioning of the instantaneous view in the colonial space of Cuba.