James A. RICALTON was born in Waddington, New York, USA on 13 May 1844 and died in Ogdensburg, New York, USA, on 28 October 1929. Ricalton was a famous traveller, photographer, war correspondent, big-game hunter, naturalist, adventurer and author. After a career as a schoolmaster in Maplewood, New York State, USA, Ricalton was employed in 1891 by Underwood & Underwood, producers of stereoscopic photographs. He used his various cameras in most countries around the world. Between 1879 and 1914 he travelled over 500,000 miles (800,000 km) and took 100,000 photographs and 30 miles (48 km) of motion picture film. Ricalton photographed widely in China notably during the Boxer Uprising. His stereo-friendly style tended to make for what seems like somewhat stilted compositions and posings, often comprising distinct elements of foreground, middle distance, and distant areas of interest. But stereoviews really come to life, and make sense compositionally, when seen through a stereoscope viewer. Sources: Christopher J. Lucas, James Ricalton's Photographs of China during the Boxer Rebellion (London: Edwin Mellon Press, 1990) and Terry Bennett, Photography in Japan 1853-1912 (North Clarendon: Tuttle, 2006).