Paris in 3D: From Stereoscopy to Virtual Reality 1850-2000 [Hardcover]

Musee Carnavalet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Records and describes the various techniques of three dimensional photography from 1850 to day through stereoscopes, photosculpture and anaglyphys, holograms, 3D computer imagery and virtual reality.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although stereoscopic views--the first 3D images--were invented by English physicist Charles Wheatstone, they didn't catch on until their debut in Paris in the 1850s. The City of Light has been an inspiration ever since to amateur and professional photographers with a taste for hyperrealism. Paris in 3D, which comes with a pair of red-and-green plastic lenses and a cardboard viewer, offers a grab bag of Parisian subjects from the past 150 years, ready to snap into eye-popping focus. This is a fantastic variety show, with everything from aerial perspectives, architectural monuments, and eye-witness views of famous historical events to advertising imagery, vintage nudes, and contemporary art projects.

The authors discuss technical aspects of the various 3D processes in enthusiastic detail. You're probably familiar with holography, but how about anaglyphs, line screen and lenticular systems, photo-sculpture and auto-stereograms? In recent years, computer-generated 3D imagery helped design the new Météor line on the Métro and made possible a Web site allowing subscribers to create figures who roam specific Parisian districts. But technology is just part of the story. The text also surveys public attitudes (largely disapproving in the early days, when pornography was rampant) and muses over the continuing allure of this form of trick photography.

Even if philosophical discussions and explanations of how things work make your eyes glaze over, the photographs themselves are, as the Michelin Guides say, "worth the trip." From glimpses of the Paris Commune barricades of 1871 to an advertisement for a massage school for the blind, this is a hugely inclusive portrait of Paris, at once lofty and banal, cultured and crass, steeped in history and living for the moment. --Cathy Curtis

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Booth-Clibborn; 1st Ed. edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861541627
• ISBN-13: 978-1861541628
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treat From the Front Cover to the Last Word!!, December 26, 2000

By 

Diane E. Rulien (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paris in 3D: From Stereoscopy to Virtual Reality 1850-2000 (Hardcover)

I received "Paris in 3D" for Christmas and what a wonderful surprise! This book is exciting before you even open the front cover. The front of the book has a beautiful lenticular of the Eiffel Tower. But the wonder does not stop there. Each page reveals beautiful 3-D images which can be viewed with the viewers enclosed in the book. The paper is high quality and the reproductions are gorgeous! As if this weren't enough, the book is engrossing and full of interesting information. I have been interested in 3-D photography for six years. This is the kind of book that I would be comfortable recommending to anyone who loves beautiful, well produced books, regardless of their knowledge or interest in 3-D photography. It is truly a collector's item that the whole family would enjoy viewing.