I have
always had a fascination with 3-D photography. I was so thrilled with
Viewmasters- even cartoon images in 3-D! I have never had sympathy or
understanding for the naysayers! When ever people complained about
eye strain or headaches, I would reply- “But it is like you are
really there!” While viewing the movie Avatar with my wife, she
said it made her feel sick. My reply was “Yeah, but it is magical!”
My attitude is, if you get to walk with the dinosaurs or go to a
faraway place without leaving your chair, you can put up with the
discomfort(full disclosure, sometimes I experience some eye
strain,too).
I was
fortunate to take Saturday art classes at the Columbus College of Art
and Design when I was a child. One of my favorite projects was 3-D
drawing. It was simple, yet fascinating. Draw the image in blue,
trace the image, then draw a copy of the image next to the first in
red. The wider the images are apart, the closer they appear! My first
drawing was called “Barnstorming in a 747” and I was being quite
literal. There were flying boards , a decimated barn, and a 747
roaring towards you. I think there was even a cow in the air! Though
my memory of it is probably quite superior to the real thing, I was
smitten with 3-D.
By now,
any readers know I collect Polaroid cameras. My fascination with
Polaroid eventually led me to learning more about the company, and by
virtue of that, 3-D. I don’t think it is common knowledge that Dr.
Land, the founder of Polaroid created the first sheet polarizer which
led to a slew of inventions 15 years prior to instant photography
fame. One of the big ones was the way we see most 3-D movies today. The greyed out lenses are polarized plastic, one lens tuned to see
one image and the other to see the second image. In 1939 the world
was given the first taste of this technology at the World’s Fair in
New York.
Though
not thematically central to my paintings, several of my recent works
can be viewed with ChromaDepth glasses in order to unlock the spatial
potential of 3-D. These night time landscapes of abandoned homes use
the strength of projecting/receding colors to create spaces you can
enter visually. Featured on my web site aaronsmithartist.net, Old
School is probably the best example.
So when
I saw Polaroid cameras designed for ID photography- from drivers’
licenses to passports and everything in between- I had to try a
stereographic image.
The
Polaroid Miniportrait was a goal of mine. I saw online how it worked
and i suspected alternate purposes for it. I have some passport
cameras in my collection and they are fun at parties, as you can get
multiple shots on one piece of film! This one intrigued me because I
was thinking right away about 3-d possibilities. I have a stereograph
viewer from the 1800s that i got from an antique store, so I took
some shots- and it worked!
There are limitations to the method. First off, the lenses are closer together than the average human eyes. This means the illusion only works well with close up subject matter. Second, the camera is auto focus, but only up to about 6 feet(that pairs well with the first issue). The camera was designed for portraiture, so that is why it is dialed in on a fairly shallow depth of focus.
So what it boils down to is that it is perfect for portraits of people and puppies(and cats). I did a bunch of shots and the ones that are close up really work. All you have to do is take the shot at 6 feet or so, and mount the picture to a piece of cardstock(or you can use Polaroid print mounts that you can still find on ebay-that's what I do). Next just clip the image into your stereograph viewer!
Did I mention that this camera gives you full manual control? You can choose between two speeds and several apertures! The flash is also directional! If you are one of the people who get headaches from looking at 3-d, don't worry. You can always just use it to take portraits-or you can embrace the pain!
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