Meet my latest addition: stereographs. A few weeks ago I found an intriguing stall in Washington’s Eastern Market and I was hooked after searching to my heart’s content through hundreds of amazing, century-old images from around the world. Before iPads, TV, and movie theaters there were stereographs. It’s a simple yet brilliant concept: a special camera took two images right next to each other, shifted slightly just the way the image that our two eyes see is shifted. The effect? When you look at a stereograph through special binoculars – a stereoscope – the image becomes 3D! Basic optics, magical result. In the late 19th and early 20th century stereographs were the craze. They were a way to see famous and exotic places come to life in a way that no ordinary photograph could create. They reigned supreme until the arrival of moving pictures but still today have a devoted crowd of enthusiasts – counting me. Read the rest of this entry →