The Optical Wonder of the Age
The birth of three-dimensional photography was highly controversial with much heated debate and rivalry from its proponents who competed to be first. This chapter highlights the historical background of 3-D by quoting The Great Exhibition of 1850 and the birth of commercial stereoscopic photography. For the first time audiences were introduced to Brewster's stereoscope, allied to Daguerre's photographic images and so successful was public reaction that by 1852 the system had become a commercial triumph with much to be gained. During the following decade the new steam railway network rapidly engulfed much of the British Isles and Europe, making the distribution of mass replicated stereo-views within easy reach for many. Indeed entrepreneurs, such as John Nottage, commissioned sets of stereo-views and built a catalogue of more than 10,000 stereo image pairs that are still highly sought after in todays auction houses. Public interest peaked around 1870 and thereafter began to decline, due in part to the stereo photograph, or pair, becoming ubiquitous. Roger Taylor offers a glimpse into that period of history when enthusiasm for the stereo photograph has never been surpassed.