Genevieve Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
Probably the best repository for stereoscopic photography of the Exposition Internationale Paris 1937 is a book published late in the year - with stereoviews by notorious Nazi photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, and some text that just drips with propaganda. This post takes a first look at this Raumbild album, and the context and subtext surrounding it.
1933 in the finest borough of the greatest city in America is brought to life, in sepia-toned 3D in a rare strip from Tru Vue. See the Williamsburg Bank Building without neighboring skyscrapers; the first Brooklyn Public Library's original main branch building; an elevated train line through the center of the borough - and more - all in stereo pairs & anaglyphic 3D!
This dramatic Kilburn stereoview of a train climbing Mt. Washington is very dramatic - and very silly, when you realize that the camera was tilted to make the incline look much steeper than it was in reality. And it gets weirder - because at least 3 variants were printed, with the same series number!
In 1935, neither the phrase nor the concept of "politically correct" was in existence. Nowhere is this more evident than in this set of 14 stereoviews from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - in this case, the Greatest Freak Show on Tru Vue 3D.
In which we look at 11 slides from the second box of the Puthon Collection, get into some more rugged mountaineering, sit at a picnic table with a telescope looking over Mont Blanc, and more!
After the shoulder strap broke on a dress during a usually-innocent dance routine, Gypsy Rose Lee was propelled into the world of burlesque - where she became one of its most legendary performers. Here she is in wonderful 3D!
Since someone recently told me that it was "impossible" to properly digitize Tru Vue 3D photographic reels, I went ahead and digitized #809, "Petrified Forest and Painted Desert" - and they actually turned out pretty great! Here are all 14 images as stereo pairs & anaglyphs.
First used by man in the Paleolithic era, the interconnected Wookey Hole Caves stretch far into the earth, through vast, flooded chambers created by the underground River Axe. Used as a Doctor Who shooting location in "Revenge of the Cybermen",
The post-war Raumbild-Verlag Siegfried Brandmüller series "Denmark" shows a number of great views of Copenhagen, as well as a couple of terrible ones.
In the final post in the Month of Remembrance series, we take a look at a merry band of soldiers preparing to "execute" what I've decided to call a "Snowboche" - a simple end to a complex series, much like the Great War itself.