Stereo Photography

April, 2013 Photography

Stereo photography and the use of optical illusions such as lenticulars, anaglyphs, phantograms and stereoscopes is a recurring fascination, employed in several installations. 

Illusions of three –dimensional depth and changing or ‘flip’ images engage the audience in a very specific way, encouraging a reassessment of their initial perception of an installation space.  Things are hidden that can only be revealed by moving in a particular way through the space or by exercising certain visual and perceptual skills.

The visual ‘trick’ is immediately engaging but also provokes the questioning of how we see, the relationship between mind and the eye and the perception of space and reality.   The audience are complicit and take delight in their own deception.  To make the illusion work they must make some effort to overcome the usual mechanisms of perception.

Large scale, physical and lens based lenticulars, red and green spectacles for anaglyphs and uniquely constructed stereoscopes have been employed across several different projects.

Research- F. Drouin, 1995 -Facsimile of 1894 edition, The Stereoscope and Stereoscopic Photography, Reel 3D Enterprises, Inc.