No more audacious challenge was undertaken in the early years of photography than the ascent of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, and the making of views at its summit. Paralyzing cold, blinding snowstorms, avalanches, and the expected nausea and vertigo of high-altitude exploration forced Auguste-Rosalie Bisson’s team to turn back on its first two attempts, succeeding only on its third try, in 1861. By bringing his Parisian clientele a virtual experience few would ever realize in fact, Bisson was one of many photographers whose explorations of the globe dramatically expanded the known world for 19th-century urban audiences.