P3D Re: Good Old Henry, tra la la la la...

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Is it hot here or is it just me? :-)

OK, here is what I think:  Good Old Henry is exaggerating...
An exaggeration that is partially explained by the stunning
impact that stereo photography has on human beings.

Ray Zone is also exaggerating when he says that if realism the
highest function of stereography then we should be satisfied
with direct vision.

Between the two extremes there is a perfectly happy road...

Who would expect that I would be the one preaching moderation? :-)
But I refuse to be pushed to the extremes in this argument.

At the end, it becomes a matter of personal preference... 
Historically, realism has been the strongest selling point
of stereo photography, supported by the actions of those
who, as consumers, brought stereo in great heights in terms
of popularity.  

And a personal story:

I remember, my first argument with Boris was his overemphasizing
of realism as the main (only?) value of stereo and his, what
appeared to me to be, flat out rejection of many interesting
forms of non-ortho stereo, like hyperstereos... Now, of course,
he too has shifted in his views.... (right Boris?)

Greg writes:

>As has been pointed out here countless times, stereography only comes
>slightly closer than conventional photography to duplicating reality.

*** slightly closer *** closer and this was pointed countless times???
Where was I when this was pointed out?  Sorry, I strongly disagree.
Going from one (single) two-dimensional (flat) 2d image to two
(a pair) of three-dimensional (stereo) 3d images is a TREMENDOUS
LEAP!  Even mathematically speaking, 1 + 0.1 (your "slightly") is
nowhere close to 3!  Q.E.D. :-)

>You are promoting what seems to me to be an engineer's point of view, 
>and he is taking the artist's perspective.  

There is third point of view that some don't seem to see... And
this is the "layman's" point of view.  The person who wants to view
stereo images as the next best think to "being there"... This is the
consumer that bought the stereo views in the late 19th and early
20th century or VM reels, in the mid 20th century, or the 3Discover
today.  And this is also the photographer who used or uses stereo 
photography to record his life, his family, his environment, his 
MEMORIES.  No, he is no artist.  He/she is mainly interested in
a realistic visual stimulus or precious memories.  This point of 
view is (has been) held by the majority, I believe.

George Themelis


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