"Our Party," Yo Semite Valley.. Albumen print, Getty Museum. Public domain photograph.

Charles Bierstadt was born in Prussia (now Germany) on 25 August 1819. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1833 and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Bierstadt began his career as a painter and lithographer, but soon turned to photography. Bierstadt became interested in stereoscopic photography, a technique that creates the illusion of depth by presenting two slightly different images to each eye. He opened a studio in New Bedford in 1856 and began producing stereoscopic views of local scenes. He later moved to New York City and continued to produce stereoscopic views of landmarks and landscapes throughout the United States. Bierstadt's photographs were popular with tourists and collectors, and he won several awards for his work. He also published a book, Stereographs of American Scenes, in 1860. Bierstadt continued to work as a photographer until his death on 18 December 1903 in West Hoboken, New Jersey.