Exhibit article: Part two of two

[P3D Jamie Drouin <jdrouin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Part two:

Still to arrive is the largest piece of all-a three-foot by five-foot
abstract art image created by artist Rick Gibson.
Art lovers may remember Gibson as the same Vancouver artist who created a
national controversy in 1990.  He threatened to kill a rat called Sniffy
with a rat-crushing contraption...all in the name of art.  Drouin plays
down Gibson's notoriety, however, stressing that the 3D photography show is
a serious exhibit.
Some of Drouin's own images are on display, including a black & white
close-up of a leaf.  He has also taken 3D photographs for the Art Gallery
of Greater Victoria's Asian art catalogue.
For Drouin, 3D or stereophotography is a "rather large and self-indulgent
hobby".  He got hooked three years ago while pursuing his hobby of
collecting old toys.  This interest extended to seeking out old View-Master
reels showing clay diaramas of children's stories from the 1940s and 1950s.
>From there he became intrigued by the whole field of 3D photography.
Today, Drouin owns thousands of stereo photographs-many of them old
Victoria scenes-as well as a collection of stereo cameras and viewers.
"It's not everyone that's going to be impressed by this kind of thing," he
said, admitting that his girlfriend doesn't quite share his enthusiasm.
"It's a cult.  It's definitely very much a cult."
The technique (an illusion of depth is produced when each eye views the
same image from a slightly different perspective) was invented in 1841.
>From there until the 1930s, 3D photographs were a popular form of
entertainment.  They also served serious scientific and educational
purposes.  Shutterbug magazine estimates 95 per cent of all Civil War
photographs taken were stereoscopic images.
Stereo photography enjoyed a resurgence in the late '40s with the
development of an easy-to-use 35mm slide film and stereo camera called the
"Realist".  Ads showed celebrities such as Fred Astaire using the camera,
and other stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Harold Lloyd were said to be 3D
photo fans.
While the 3D photo has faded from mainstream popularity, it has enjoyed a
modest revival among a growing number of enthusiasts, such as Drouin.
There's even a National Stereoscopic Association based in Columbus, Ohio,
with more than 4000 members worldwide.
The technique is still being used for technical and scientific purposes.
AIDS researchers have used 3D photography to assist in identifying DNA
structures, for example.
Drouin hopes his modest exhibit-contained in a log museum in rural
Sooke-will introduce a new generation to the wonders of 3D imagery.  "So
people can appreciate it can be used for things aside from bad 1950s
films," he added.
Note: Admission to the Exhibition of 3D Photography at the Sooke Region
Museum is free.  The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm this
month, and seven days a week (9am to 6pm) during the months of July and
August.


                                                  :-)jamie.

Jamie Drouin Photography
http://www.islandnet.com/~jdrouin

'the means...exceed the measure of the imaginable'
 Hans Kessler, 16 April, 1933



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