To celebrate World Photography Day, on the 19th August 2026, photo historian and researcher Denis Pellerin, from the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, will be giving a free online 3-D talk: ‘The Weetabix Stereoscopic Cards and their Photographers‘ from 6pm BST (GMT+1):
“Discover the photographer who took the images for four of the six Weetabix cards sets with photo historian Denis Pellerin
Everyone has their own personal story about how they got hooked for life on Stereoscopy. The most widely known of those narratives is the one told by Sir Brian May in radio and TV interviews, in documentaries and in his Queen in 3-D book. As a lot of people now know it all started for him with a card showing two hippos which he found in a packet of Weetabix breakfast cereals some time in 1960. The rest is history.
What some people may not be aware of, however, is that six sets of 25 cards were produced by Weetabix between 1960 and 1963 after they took over the Vistascreen franchise from their founders: the Spring brothers and Stanley Long.
Pat Whitehouse, the photographer who took the images for the set entitled British Birds, has long been acknowledged and celebrated. But what about the authors of the five remaining sets ?
One single stereoscopic 35 mm slide bought on the internet allowed Rebecca and Denis, from the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, to trace the photographic artist responsible for four of the other sets and for taking that photo of the hippos ! And that person is still alive ! Their memory is not what it used to be and they experience bad and better days but their family very kindly gave us access to all the stereoscopic images they could find and to all the information they had about their relative’s career. Without their help putting together this talk would never have been possible. We are very grateful to them.
The identity of the photographer, their story and some their stereoscopic work will be revealed during the online talk Denis will give on Wednesday 19 August 2026 (Photography Day) at 6.00 p.m. B.S.T. (G.M.T. + 1). There was no better date to honour that unsung photographer and follow their career in a journey which starts in a not so distant past and will transport you to Britain, the Galapogos and Australia !
A link to the talk will be sent to you on the day before the event with the email you registered with. This 3-D talk will use side-by-side images (parallel viewing). The talk will not be recorded but an article on the same subject will be released on the same day just after the talk is over.”
The event is free to attend on Zoom, but registration via Eventbrite is required, which starts at 1pm BST 27th July 2026.
You can register directly using the form below, or via the Eventbrite webpage link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-weetabix-stereoscopic-cards-and-their-photographers-tickets-1995435742020
The stereoscopic images in the talk will be in the side-by-side parallel-view format, and if you need any help with viewing this in 3-D please see this post.
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