interest in stereoviews

[P3D Tom Johnstone <100776.2014@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

dear stereophiles,

I can't agree that there is not much of interest to write about stereoviews, or
agree with Dr T. that the identity of the original photographers of stereoviews
is of no importance. In fact the latter seems to me a shamefully neglected
subject. Countless historians of photography have drawn attention to the
achievements and aesthetic and technical excellence of the leading nineteenth
century photographers--in blissful ignorance of the fact that many, perhaps even
the majority, of these revered pioneers did a substantial amount of their work
in stereo. Many famous mono photographs, for example Howlett's picture of Brunel
standing in front of the chains of the Great Eastern, Jack Hillers' The Empty
Cradle, Timothy O'Sullivan's expeditionary views, Frith's pyramids etc., are in
fact one half of a stereo pair, and arguably are considerably diminished by
being viewable only in 2D.

IMO, notable stereo photographers deserve to be rescued from their obscurity. I
would be interested to hear from other readers of this list whom (grammar) they
consider to be the outstanding practitioners of stereo photography, particularly
from the nineteenth century. Writing this in Scotland, I can immediately call to
mind some remarkable and prolific local stereo photographers--Thomas Begbie of
Edinburgh, who produced many striking early views of the city; Charles Piazzi
Smyth, famed as an astronomer and egyptologist but also a skilled photographer;
George Washington Wilson of Aberdeen, well known as one of Scotland's greatest
early photographers; James Valentine of Dundee, less celebrated than GWW, but
the producer of many excellent landscape views.

In the nineteenth century, stereo photography was not regarded as a gimmick, but
a serious branch of the art, and those who cared about photography thought a lot
about how to achieve stereo pictures of the highest quality, both in terms of
aesthetics and technique. The fact that there were a lot of people out there
producing meretricious (I've always wanted to use that word) rubbish and riding
along on the bandwagon is not a reason to neglect the work of key figures in the
history of photography.

It would be nice to hear what people consider to be classic individual
stereoviews from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but unfortunately
study of the field is not advanced enough for anyone to have an overview--we are
all holding little pieces of the jigsaw, we all have our favourite images, but
there is no canonical collection (eg a series of publications about different
stereo photographers) to which we can all refer. Which is a pity.

Best wishes to all,

Tom Johnstone
in Roslin, near Edinburgh, Scotland    


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