Antique Stereoview Collector David Spahr Interview
David Spahr is a collector of stereoviews and a dealer in 19th & 20th century photography, cameras, ephemera, and selected antiques. David is a member of the National Stereoscopic Association. Recently, I talked with him about his interest in stereo photography and stereoview collecting.
ephemera: When did your passion for stereoview collecting begin?
Spahr: I started looking at stereoviews when I was a child visiting my Grandparent's house. I inherited their small collection in 1970. I paid little attention to them for quite a few years. I studied art in college, and eventually, I became a freelance commercial photographer. My head was in photography, one way or another, for most of my adult life.
I was always buying cameras in the 1970s and 1980s, and a few stereoviews came up occasionally. I rented shelf space at a group antique shop, and put my yard sale cameras there. They sold well. I started looking around for inventory in shops and at auctions. I kept finding more stereoviews. I realized they had significant value and that there were many truly amazing images out there. I studied and learned--finding dynamite images is always so much fun. In the final analysis, I was more interested in images than cameras.
Most images we see of the Civil War are from stereoviews. Stereoviews photographically documented history--for 100 years--more completely than any other visual format or medium. Virtually, every square inch of anything interesting from the 1850s to the 1930s and beyond was stereo photographed. Cool.
ephemera: It is amazing when you think about all the history that was captured in stereo photographs. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in collecting? How do you overcome these challenges?
Spahr: The biggest challenge is money. This started as a part-time thing. My collecting was haphazard because of what I could afford. I did find truly amazing buys though. I started the aforementioned sideline business in photographica to help finance my collecting. It was fun. It was profitable. It got more and more important. Eventually, I became a stay at home parent. Since the Internet was becoming a thing in the 1990s, I moved a lot of my business to the Internet--launching in early 1996. The Internet was certainly helping me find things, too.
ephemera: Yes, the Web has been the source of a lot positive changes in collecting. You were certainly a pioneer in that regard. What are your favorite items in your collection, and why do they inspire you?
Spahr: I don't know if I have a single favorite view. I have eclectic tastes. My collecting interest lies more in the aesthetic area than most collectors. Most people collect historical places or particular photographers or certain fairly narrow subjects. I'm always amazed at what people collect. My collection may be a bit more weighted toward the compositionally and photographically excellent than what is historical or valuable.
I have a list of various subjects I collect on my home page. That said, I do have a thing for images of photographers and photographica. I am showing [included in this post] two previously unseen views from my collection. Not quite random choices, but I could have chosen a lot of things.
ephemera: Yes, the images you've provided are remarkable. I understand that you believe the first one to be Charles Seaver and his assistant photographing a gazing ball in a private garden, and the second one that appears in the post is one you believe to be a view of a Brewster stereoscope and cards. [Click on images to enlarge.] Besides acquiring great images like these, what’s your advice to achieving success as a stereoview collector?
Spahr: Follow your own interests and learn as much as you can.
ephemera: That’s great advice, and the purpose behind the ephemera interview--to provide first-hand knowledge to collectors. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.
The following books contain more information about stereoviews:
Stereoscopes: The First One Hundred Years
