It’s a pleasure to welcome to the Stereoscopy Blog stereoscopic photographer Kyler Clark. Kyler has spent the last decade touring the world as assistant to rock ‘n’ roll legend Alice Cooper. Never without a camera, Kyler has captured intimate and candid moments of Alice’s life, as well as unique landscapes and architecture from around the world in 3-D.

We’re grateful to Kyler for taking time out of his busy touring schedule and celebrating Stereoscopy Day with us by having interview with the Blog, and sharing his passion for stereoscopic photography.

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• How did you first get into stereoscopy, and how did you take the leap to applying it to your own photography?

KC: I first got into stereoscopy by accident. I have always collected antiques, and when I started touring I would always come across the old viewers and stereo cards. I was fascinated with them and began collecting them. I didn’t put too much thought into making my own until I came across a Stereo Colorist in a shop while on the road. I thought, boy this would be really fun to see what I see on the road with Alice Cooper but in 3D. So I shot a roll of film, developed it, and was immediately hooked. Then I began doing research and decided the best way to really get into it was to build my own stereo rig so I wasn’t tied to film while on the road. Thru my early exploration I came across Brian May’s amazing work documenting Queen and that was a big inspiration for me, exactly what I try to go for with my own stereos.  

• What are your favourite subjects to capture in stereoscopic 3-D? 

KC: One of my favorite things about stereoscopy is that it forces me to think differently about what I’m shooting than I usually would in my normal work flow. I’m forced to think about where things are in the shot rather than just a subject or a moment. I’ve been taking photos of the tour and essentially the same stuff since around 2009, so stereoscopy keeps things interesting for me. Most of what I shoot are backstage or concert photos, with props and stage equipment populating the shots, crowd shots. But outside of my usual routine I enjoy photographing gardens a lot. I also love doing long exposures at night with cars passing by – the lights create floating streaks in the images that are the coolest.  

• What do you find appeals to you most about capturing photographs in 3-D, which makes the extra work that comes with it worthwhile?

KC: I think that it gives the viewer a real sense of “being there”. In my line of work, seeing some of the things I see is really rare. Being able to capture those moments in 3D and share them is a really special thing. It gives people a further look into that world. Of course the back end work is more intensive but people’s reactions always add fuel to the fire and encourage me to keep going at it.  

• What is your current camera setup and how has it evolved over the years?

KC: My current stereo rig is 2 Sony A6500 cameras with various lenses paired together using some cages and parts I got from SmallRig. To trigger both the cameras at once I have a Hahnel Captur remote shutter transmitter and two receivers. I have the cameras in portrait mode, but I originally had them in landscape mode mounted on a dual flash rail. The problem I found with THAT set up was the cables would get in the way of the cameras being able to be perfectly parallel to each other. I expect that if I found the right cables or perhaps a camera with ports in different positions I might try that again, but I’m very satisfied with how my rig operates.  

• What are your favourite ways to view your 3-D photos?

KC: I myself can free view both parallel- and cross-eye images, but so far I’ve only ever printed parallel view stereocards for the most part. I do have one anaglyph image on my website for sale, but I haven’t experimented further with these. I do like that you can view them in much larger formats. For gallery shows, I have an iPad mounted inside an antique stereo viewer that puts images a repeating rotation so folks can simply look and see a bunch of images. For my next show I’m toying with the idea of having larger anaglyphs, as well as individual OWL viewers to see an image in 3D, similar to the way Proud Galleries in London has their gallery set up.  

• Where can people visit to see more of your work and purchase it?

KC: I am most active on Instagram, where I go by @cerealkyler.  I do have a website where I sell regular non-stereo prints and a pack of 18 stereoscopic cards and viewers – that site is cerealkyler.com.  I’m in the process of adding a little stereo section to my website for people to view my most recent stereo images. I find sharing them on social media to my usual audience can be a bit difficult. Hopefully it’ll be up in time for Stereoscopy Day!

• Are there any tips or advice you’d give to someone wanting to start taking 3-D photos?

KC: Do it!  It’s a very fun hobby. I also find that it almost ALWAYS strikes up a conversation with someone when they see my rig. Either they have no idea what it is, or they do and you’ve met a fellow stereo friend. My advice if you’re looking to make your own set up using actual cameras – buy used cameras and make sure they are identical in every way. It helps to have cameras you can have total control over, rather than using auto mode. There’s lots of different ways to take stereo images as we all know, so play around! I don’t believe in saying there is a right or wrong way to do anything art related. Whatever works for you!  

• Is there anything you’re looking for from the stereo community?

KC: FRIENDS!  If you’re into stereoscopy images and would like to talk about it in general, talk shop, trade tricks, give or receive advice etc – please reach out to me!

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Please note all images in this post are copyright of Kyler Clark. Please visit his website to see more and support his work.

Thank you so much Kyler, it’s great to see such a passionate ambassador for stereoscopic photography keeping it so cool! We wish you and everyone around the world celebrating today a very happy Stereoscopy Day.

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