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It's funny you say this, because preserving state and history is one the the things JS-based solutions tend to lack. Check this out:

http://playground.deaxon.com/css/lightbox/#pic3

That's a permalink to an individual lightboxed photo. No JS, no server-side magic. Colour me very impressed.

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It's not as elegant as, say, the lightbox window providing you with the URL to link to, and does cause annoying issues with the browser history.

That said, it's a lot cooler and more robust for site owners who might be looking to provide linkers with a little more context than serving a standalone image.

This also allows for the middle-click user flow.

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