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I have recently acquired a daguerrotype stereoview of Scottish provenance. It shows three men round a table on which is an early Brewster stereoscope, a D&S black and white litho view and possibly a daguerrotype stereo, plus some small tools which could be burnishing tools of the gilding trade.

 

3D and 2D film on the history of William Henry Fox Talbot and his association with the father of 3D stereoscopic imagery Charles Wheatstone. photographed at Lacock Abbey and Village in Wiltshire. UK

• 3D 4K HSBS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a862-mvncJc&t=72s

• 2D Version https://youtu.be/rRcz2KZM94U

This Stereoscopy course is to be run again from today 13th November, for two weeks taking about 3 hours each week and can be done at a time convenient to you and at your own pace.  It is run online by Future Learn a private company wholly owned by The Open University, with the benefit of over 40 years of their experience in distance learning and online education.

Sign up to a FREE online course and discover why the stereoscope and stereo photography mesmerised Victorians when they first appeared at 1851’s Great Exhibition.

Many members of The Stereoscopic Society took part in this free on-line course on Stereoscopy in the past and found it very interesting.

You can learn by watching videos, listening to audio and reading articles. You can discuss topics with each other and educators will offer guidance and answer questions.

Some of the teaching material is supplied by Denis Pellerin of the London Stereoscopic Company with items from the Brian May collection of stereoscopic photographs.

Stereoscopic photography rapidly became a worldwide craze after the Great Exhibition of 1851. Cheap viewers and mass-produced stereographs brought startlingly vivid images within reach of a mass audience, making this the form in which most people first encountered photography – a fact largely ignored in conventional photographic history. 

Like the commercial suppliers of Magic Lantern slides, stereograph publishers offered systematic coverage of many subjects, even claiming that to ‘visit’ remote countries by stereo was better than risking the journey.

No reservations are required for this lecture. It will be run on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the lecture.

Read more on Gresham College website

Happy New Year. 2018 is the 125th Anniversary of The Stereoscopic Society. Founded in 1893 to promote 3D Photography it continues to support all aspects of 3D Imaging, with regular monthly meetings in London and Coventry. 

Here is possibly the earliest group photograph from one of the early gatherings in St Ives, Cambridgeshire in 1927.Best Wishes for another fun year of 3D.
Andrew Hurst
President
The Stereoscopic Society
www.StereoscopicSociety.org.uk

I recently acquired an amazing group of circa 40 glass stereoviews depicting prison life in the penitentiary of Clermont [Clermont-Ferrand, I believe) in the Auvergne in France. In addition to life in prison, they depict exhibits at the Exposition  Penitentiaire. Although I can not find any reference to where and when this exposition was organised, I assume it formed part of the Exposition Universelle of Paris in 1889. However, in my opinion, the most interesting images are those dedicated to prison life. Although clearly staged, they provide a fascinating glimpse into a Dickensian world. Among others there are scenes of the prison courtroom, washerwomen, young boys fencing, the kitchens, and many, many others. I suspect the images were made on order of a ministry or other government body to show how modern,humane and efficient the new prison (or workhouse) functioned. Anyway, I am fascinated by these views and am trying to find out more about them. Perhaps there is anyone out there who can tell me more ?!