Stereoscopy: the Dawn of 3-D

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Queen star Brian May and Denis Pellerin are releasing Stereoscopy: The Dawn of 3D in November through The London Stereoscopic Company. Another revival came in the 1980s, and in 2009 “we had [the film] Avatar and every TV set you bought was 3D-ready. Where is it now? It’s all disappeared.” Brian then talks about his love for analogue photography. He first got the bug when developing and printing images with his father in the family darkroom. He has also memorable stereo images on analogue gear. Visitorswill view the visuals in the splendour of 3-D through the stereoscopic OWL viewerdesigned by Brian Mayhimself.

Bennu, named for the ancient Egyptian phoenix, was the chosen destination of OSIRIS-REx, NASA’s premier mission of asteroid exploration, launched in 2016. Study of the asteroid is crucial in safeguarding the future of planet Earth as it is believed to pose great threat to Earth in approximately 160 years. Bennu is also a time capsule from the dawn of our Solar System, holding secrets over four-and-a-half billion years old about the origin of life and Earth as a habitable planet. The story behind Bennu is powerfully explored in narrative and beautiful visuals in this fascinating new publication. As we’ve been talking about social media, I ask May what he thinks Mercury would have made of the modern world. Because with the openness and instant gratification of social media also comes cancel culture. The upside and the downside. They are, in a way, two sides of the same coin. Bennu 3-D: Anatomy of an Asteroid is the first-ever asteroid atlas and comes with a pair of 3D glasses. (Image credit: The University of Arizona Press/London Stereoscopic Company)OSIRIS-Rex left Bennu in May 2021 with almost 9 ounces (250 grams) of asteroid dust and gravel stowed in its return capsule. That, Lauretta said, is four times more than the original goal, meaning the mission, despite the trials and tribulations, accomplished its aims with flying colors. The probe will drop off the capsule at Earth this September before heading to Apophis, another hazardous asteroid whose path might intersect with that of our planet in the centuries to come. I’m thrilled that London’s prestigious PROUD gallery will be hosting our exhibition for a massive FIVE MONTHS. The stars seem to be aligning —- this is IT !“Stereoscopy Is Good For You” will put 3-D firmly on the map in 2022 !” We saw projected 3D images of Brian with his stereo camera in his early Queen years, along with a picture of Freddie taking a picture of Brian taking a photo. Discover the 19th-century art of stereoscopy, which saw a second wave of popularity in the mid-20th century. It was at that time that the young Sir Brian May – later the lead guitarist for Queen – began his passion for this photographic phenomenon and formed his world-leading collection of stereoscopy. It’s only recently we have begun to understand the enormous significance of asteroids in the fortunes of Planet Earth. It’s long been recognised that some of them have the power to destroy our planet by collision. But it’s now becoming evident that previous asteroid (and cometary) impacts supplied ALL the material from which our entire Biosphere is made – and as such are responsible for our very existence. This, together with the possible benefits to humanity from mining asteroids for minerals, gives us three vital reasons for making close studies of near-Earth asteroids. The OSIRIS-REx mission undertook by far the most intimate exploration of any asteroid to date, and here are the results, the fruits of the labours of a huge team of top scientists and engineers. Our aim has been to deliver this extraordinary portrait in a form which is understandable and enjoyable to scientists and non-scientists alike.”

Still, stereoscopy is fascinating. May got hooked as a child when a stereo card of a hippopotamus fell out of a Weetabix box. “Suddenly the hippopotamus was real. I could smell its breath, I could fall into its mouth,” he recalls. Pellerin fell for stereos when he saw a picture of the Tuileries Palace in Paris. “For 10 seconds I was there,” he says. May says that the fad of 3D still falls in and out of fashion. “It’s very odd how stereoscopy becomes huge, then disappears, then becomes huge again,” he says. There was, for example, a revival in 1900 and then it disappeared again. “Even with the Avatar film. Suddenly stereoscopy was everywhere. Everyone was making films in 3D, and all TVs were ‘3D-ready’ only a couple of years ago. Try and find one now! It happens every time.” He told The Sun, “For instance, Freddie wasn't white but nobody cared. He was a musician. He was our friend, our brother. We didn't have to stop and think, ‘Oh should we work with him? Is he the right colour or the right sex?’ It's frightening that people have to be so calculated about things. To me it is dangerous.”As well as being a legendary guitarist, Brian May is an evangelist for stereoscopic photography. He’s publishing a new book and holding an exhibition of pictures that capture the world in incredible and immersive detail. How Brian May’s interest in stereoscopic photography developed Proud Galleries in collaboration with Brian May’s London Stereoscopic Company present STEREOSCOPY IS GOOD FOR YOU: LIFE IN 3-D Brian can also be seen holding the first stereoscope alongside the 21st century stereoscope that he designed in 2009 and named an OWL. Photo credit: Paul Harmer