Ian Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
Everybody knows that the plague is coming, everybody knows that it's coming fast... OK, that's just me ripping off Leonard Cohen during the CV-19 outbreak. But here, enjoy me taking the piss out of this homophobic holiday camp while you're holed up at home!
As the British Aristocracy fell into decline, they were forced to open the doors to their stately historic houses to the common person. Here's a look at some, from 1956 in VistaScreen 3D.
My wife and I took an extended trip to Strasburg to ride behind the 611 - the last remaining Norfolk and Western J-Class locomotive. Then we spent three days antiquing in the Lancaster County area. To see some of my finds, read on...
Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself. So we're all going to wind up as prisoners in Portmeirion, the North Wales village designed by a mad visionary and used for the exteriors of "The Village" in ITV's 1967 sci-fi allegory "The Prisoner". Shown in VistaScreen 3D and in annotated screengrabs from the series,
Today we look at the Isle of Man, or Ellan Vannin as it's known to the speakers of its native zombie language, Manx Gaelg. A small island in the Irish Sea, this self-governing Crown dependency was the first place in the world where women could vote in national elections - and boasts the world's oldest parliamentary body. Come take a look!
On this week's Sunday Travels, we're in for a pleasant surprise - Keystone View Company not only created a number of pretty great stereoviews, but they treated their subjects with respect. A stark contrast to Australia and most of The Netherlands, we'll look at the likely explanation for the nice stereography and barely-racist text.
Sunday Travels is back - with a ridiculous look at Australia, courtesy of KVC. The only thing more common than kangaroos in this set of stereoviews is stereotyping - at which Keystone excelled. Some come aboard, and see all the excitement of 'roos, sheep, and a really big rock!
For our final Sunday in The Netherlands, we're back in Amsterdam - about half a century before Raumbild's "Holland". Expect canals, wooden shoes, quaint street scenes - and a couple of really great stereoviews from KVC!
In this installment of Sunday Travels, we take a look at Delft, The Hague, and Leiden - all in the areas around last week's subject, Rotterdam. These views prove to be far more superior, as they spend less time buying into stereotypes, and more time actually capturing their subjects.
Douglas Adams hated Heathrow Airport. My wife likes it. Somewhere in between these points of view, there was the 1950s "London Airport", as captured here by VistaScreen. In this essay, we'll explore the nature of documentary stereography that was probably boring when shot but has become more interesting with the passage of time.