Matter in large masses must always be fixed and dear; form is cheap and trans- portable. We have got the fruit of creation now, and need not trouble ourselves with the core. Every conceivable object of Nature and Art will soon scale off its surface for us. Men will hunt all curious, beautiful, grand objects, as they hunt the cattle in South America, for their skins, and leave the carcasses as of little worth.

#OliverWendellHolmes on the #stereograph, 1859

#photography #TheDesertOfTheReal