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The Enigma of Appearances Photography of the Third Dimension

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The Enigma of Appearances Photography of the Third Dimension The Enigma of Appearances Photography of the Third Dimension Tina Fiveash A report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree Master of Fine Art, School of Media Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales by Tina Fiveash, July 2007. abstract The Enigma of Appearances is an examination into the medium of three- dimensional photography, with particular focus on the technique of stereoscopy. Invented in the mid-Victorian era, stereoscopy was an attempt to simulate natural three-dimensional perception via a combination of optics, neurology, and a pair of dissimilar images. Whilst successful in producing a powerful illusion of spatial depth and tangibility, the illusion produced by stereoscopy is anything but ‘natural’, when compared to three-dimensional perception observed with the naked eye. Rather, stereoscopic photography creates a strange and unnatural interpretation of three-dimensional reality, devoid of atmosphere, movement and sound, where figures appear frozen in mid-motion, like waxwork models, or embalmed creatures in a museum. However, it is precisely stereoscopic photography’s unique and enigmatic interpretation of three-dimensional reality, which gives it its strength, separating it from being a mere ‘realistic’ recording of the natural world. This thesis examines the unique cultural position that stereoscopy has occupied since its invention in 1838, from its early role as a tool for the study of binocular vision, to its phenomenal popularity as a form of mass entertainment in the second half of the 19th century, to its emergence in contemporary fine art practice in the late 20th and 21stt centuries. Additionally, The Enigma of Appearances gives a detailed analysis of the theory of spatial depth perception; it discusses the dichotomy between naturalia versus artificialia in relation to stereoscopic vision; and finally, traces the development of experimental studio practice and research into stereoscopic photography, undertaken for this MFA between 2005 and 2007. The resulting work, Camera Mortuaria (Italian for ‘Mortuary Room’), is a powerful and innovative series of anaglyptic portraits, based upon an experimental stereoscopic technique that enables the production of extreme close-up three- Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 2 dimensional photography. Applying this technique to the reproduction of the human face in three-dimensional form, Camera Mortuaria presents a series of ‘photo sculptures’, which hover between reality and illusion, pushing the boundaries of stills photography to the limit, and beyond. Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 3 contents Abstract................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements..............................................................................................5 Introduction ..........................................................................................................7 Part One Sun Painting and Sun Sculpture ........................................................................15 To Perceive is to Believe....................................................................................20 Naturalia vs Artificialia........................................................................................23 Part Two Experimental Practice ........................................................................................26 Camera Mortuaria ..............................................................................................48 Stereoscopic Photography and Contemporary Fine Art Practice........................58 Conclusion .........................................................................................................66 Endnotes............................................................................................................67 Appendix One ....................................................................................................69 Bibliography .......................................................................................................74 Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 4 acknowledgements I wish to express enormous thanks and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Michele Barker, for her total support, assistance and encouragement, and for pushing me to go digital. I also extend a big thanks to Sue Blackburn and Craig Bender in Photomedia at COFA, for their helpful advice, friendly service, and technical support. Thanks to Bob and Irene Goard for their invaluable and informative advice about stereoscopic photography and stereo cameras. A huge thanks to all the wonderful models who generously gave their time to this project. Special thanks to my family for all their ongoing support, encouragement, generosity, and love. And a warm thanks to all my friends and everyone else who has helped in some way, especially: Anita Bai for her invaluable feedback, geeky advice and inspirational conversations over coffee and Belgium chocolate; Sandra Landolt for her friendship, support and exhibition help; Megan Geach, Rowena Hall, Sophie Harper, Jax Standish, Fern Smith, Kirstin Guenther, Tracy Blake, and Wolf for their ongoing support, love and encouragement; Bernie Hobbs for her encouragement and assistance with finding models; Liz Ashburn and Tara Marynowsky for encouraging me to do my MFA; Cabby Huff for her divine intervention re informing me about the APA scholarship; and the wonderful staff at the AFC who provide me with much merriment whilst I work to support myself as an artist; and lastly a special thanks to my sister, Alix, for her endless support, enthusiasm, encouragement, generosity, and unique sense of humour. Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 5 To be is to be perceived1 Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 6 introduction I remember as a child peering through the lenses of the View-Master and being captivated by the strange, miniature, 3-D worlds I encountered within, which were populated by mysterious looking figures, frozen in rigid poses. The fact that the figures were real people completely fascinated me, and I remember spending hours scrutinizing their miniature forms in an attempt to understand them better, letting my mind run free with ideas concerning where they may have lived and where they were headed before they became entombed inside the View-Master. I was equally curious and intrigued about their peculiar physical form, which on the one hand appeared so vividly real and palpable that I could imagine reaching out and touching them, and on the other hand, appeared oddly two-dimensional as if they were cardboard cut out dolls. However, this strange visual enigma did nothing to diminish the magic and wonder of the 3-D illusion. If anything, it heightened my curiosity and added to the overall mystery and visual enchantment of the View-Master experience. My interest in View-Masters resurfaced again more than two decades later, after dreaming one night that a friend gave me a 1950s Bakelite View-Master as a gift, identical to the one I had as a child. Curiously, the next day whilst at a second-hand market I came across a mint condition 1950s Bakelite View-Master for sale, still in its original box, and immediately was overtaken by powerful feelings of nostalgia for it as it evoked a deep sense of the wonderment, enchantment and intrigue I’d experienced as a child when peering into its mysterious depths. Out of nostalgia, as well as an intuitive sense that the View- Master’s materialization was more than just sheer coincidence, I promptly purchased it, and it joined the ranks of other nostalgia and memorabilia in my home, which I’d been collecting for many years. Meanwhile, I had just commenced my MFA, and was in the process of revising my research proposal as my interests had shifted, when I found myself Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 7 increasingly preoccupied by a recurring image in my mind of a woman from the 1950s looking through a View-Master. Following my intuition, I produced a series of experimental photographic tableaux depicting individual women, men and children looking through a variety of View-Masters and 3-D optical viewers from different eras. It was during this process that I realised, it wasn’t so much the depiction of people looking through 3-D viewers that caught my imagination, but rather, it was imagining what they were looking at. This revelation triggered me to investigate techniques for producing three-dimensional photographs. Over the following two years, I conducted extensive experimentation and research into stereoscopic photography (otherwise known as stereography or stereo-photography), which was the earliest form of three-dimensional photography, as well as experimenting with a technique known as anaglyptic photography, which is based on similar principles to stereoscopic photography. This thesis traces the development of my experimental studio work and the research undertaken for my Master of Fine Arts. Please note: This thesis contains a number of anaglyptic (3-D) photographs that require the viewer to wear 3-D glasses in order for the 3-D effect to be perceived. A pair of 3-D glasses is available in the hardcopy version of this thesis. Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 8 Fig. 3 Escape I, 2005 Fig. 4 Escape II, 2005 Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 9 Fig.5 Blue Mountains Tourist I, 2005 Fig. 6 Blue Mountains Tourist II, 2005; Fig.7 Blue Mountains Tourist III, 2005 Tina Fiveash The Enigma of Appearances 10 Fig.8 Man with Stereoscope,
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