History
True Crime in Old Stereographs
What is meant by true crime? It’s a nonfiction genre having to do with actual crimes, usually murder. It’s popular now, but it was popular in the 19th century too‒just think of the penny press and the National Police Gazette. As the joke says, “Crime may not pay, but it sells!”. I was curious to see if it made its way into stereo cards, too. In what follows, I’ve tried to provide a thumbnail sketch of each crime. Accounts from the time often vary, so I’ve tried to present a composite set of the facts which I think are the most likely.
The Nevers Collection
The story of 21 stereo glass negatives from the early stages of The Great War in Nevers, France.
Stereo cards from modern times
I present you a series of modern stereo cards, inspired by the Victorian way of depicting reality: Stereoscopic photography. I’ve been inspired and fascinated by the atmosphere of old stereoscopic cards, which were, in their time, the most realistic way to immortalize and then relive the memories driven by the sight of a particular scene. I show you how to create your own modern stereo card in 10 minutes!
Mid-Century 35 mm Filmstrip Stereo Viewers
3D filmstrip viewers are a family of stereo viewers that gained prominence in the early 20th century. In fact, it was a small filmstrip viewer called Tru-Vue that re-introduced 3D viewing as a mid-century pastime, made it more affordable than earlier stereoscope sets, and paved the way in the hearts and minds of consumers for the popular 3D reel & card viewers that would come later. For this reason, Tru-Vue has often been called “the missing link” in stereoscopy. Explore some of the most interesting filmstrip stereo viewers here.
The Autochrome project
The Autochrome was one of the principal ways of producing colour photography in the early 20th Century. The Autochrome Project is a personal endeavour to produce a workable method of recreating the Lumiere Autochrome.
An Abbreviated History of Stereo-Pair Illustrated books
Every now and then you can find stereo illustrated books that incorporate a viewer, to view the printed stereo pairs, rather than anaglyphs. This basic concept and format turns out to be quite old. Read more about it in David Starkman’s abbreviated history of Stereo Illustrated books.
