DRAWING LIFE by fred hatt

Stereo photography has existed almost since the birth of photography.  It works on the principle that the brain perceives depth by interpreting the slight difference in views between the two eyes.  So two photographs taken from a few inches apart, with the appropriate view seen separately by each eye, shows shape and depth.  As a kid I loved ViewMaster reels and old-fashioned Stereoscope cards.  Starting around 1990 I began taking my own stereo photographs.  Using a standard 35mm camera, I would take two shots with a small lateral shift in point of view.  As long as the subject keeps still, it is not necessary to use a camera that takes two shots simultaneously.

The original photographs have hypnotic color and depth when viewed in a special viewer.  Online, the easiest way to present them is as “anaglyphs”, for viewing with a red filter over the left eye and a cyan, blue or green filter over the right eye.  The beautiful colors of the original images don’t survive the anaglyph conversion well, so I’ve chosen images that work well in black and white, and taken the color out.

I think I have a sculptor’s eye for form and space, but I’m more interested in preserving images or experiences than in collecting or making objects.  Stereo photographs render complex forms quite beautifully.  The fungus shown here is bright yellow in the color version of this photo:

Fungus, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

It’s also interesting to look at structure, whether a somewhat haphazard stack of bricks, a complex steel lattice, a neoclassical dome, or medieval stonework.  The second you may recognize as being from New York’s Jacob Javits Center, the third as the Washington State House in Olympia, and the fourth as the Cloisters Museum in Upper Manhattan.

Bricks, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

State House Dome, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Columns, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Trees are amazingly complicated forms in space, and they come in an endless variety.

Flame Tree, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Plush Trees, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Roots, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

All the shots in this posting are from photos I made in 1993, on 35mm color print film using a Canon AE-1 SLR, for a project to create stereo photos for use by optometrists for eye training exercises.  Looking at a stereo photograph, your eyes converge or diverge as your attention moves between foreground and background objects, so spending a lot of time looking at 3D images may be good for your eyesight.

When I mentioned to my brother, Frank, that I was preparing a post of stereo photos, he recalled that when I used to present 3D slide shows, he had the experience afterwards of a heightened awareness of depth perception in the real world.

Also interesting in stereo pictures are scenes that have pronounced perspective, seeing distant things through windows or between closer objects.

Hilltop, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Rainy Window, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

Parked Cars, 1993, stereo photo by Fred Hatt

The compositional dynamics of a flat photograph are simple, their impact immediate and graphic.  A stereo image is more complex.  Looking at it, we feel we are looking through a window, perhaps into a world that has been miniaturized and frozen in time.  The eyes caress the forms or penetrate the space of the image.  Enjoy these images, then go out and revel in the spatial complexity of the world.