Denis Pellerin, photo historian and co-curator from The Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, will be presenting original stereoscopic images from Sir Brian May’s unique collection to show how the Victorians not only hand-tinted photographs but made them 3-D.
When photography was revealed to the world in the Victorian era, a lot of people expressed their disappointment at realising that the images from the camera obscura did not reproduce natural colours but looked more like etchings. Hand-tinting therefore became very popular until different processes producing true colours were developed.
Similarly, when Sir Charles Wheatstone started using photographs with the device he had invented in 1832, he was not impressed. To create the illusion of the three-dimensionality of natural vision his instrument, the Stereoscope, used two mirrors which made difficult the observation of the very highly polished surface of the first daguerreotypes.
The first teething issues of stereo photography were gradually solved, however, and the craze for stereoscopy started, which saw millions of 3-D images produced.
Today these intriguing stereoscopic photographs are collectors’ items, and this presentation will be sharing a wonderful digitised selection of them in enlarged 3-D projection. Booking is essential.
Date: Sat 7 October, Time: 2–3pm
Location: The Headley Lecture Theatre, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2PH
Price: £8
Details and booking: https://www.ashmolean.org/event/stereoscopes-talk
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