A Deep Lookat Lenticularsreview by Britt Solvesen

Sciences Sociales andan instructor at theEcole du Louvre,Timby demonstratedher considerable skills(and her affinity for3-D) in the 20OIlandmark exhibitionand publication Paris

episodes of innovation, adaptation,and serendipity.

Timby starts with a conciseoverview of the history of stere-oscopy, establishing a cultural con-text for optical imaging technologiespromising both education and enter-tainment. She also explains at theoutset how lenticular technology canbe used to produce a stereoscopic oranimated effect-an important dis-tinction, particularly for those read-ers who are only casually acquaintedwith lenticular. The history beginsaround the turn of the twentiethcentury, with the line-screen meth-

Publiramo. Animoted outostereoscopic advertisement forLe Porfoit canning jars, 1956-1 961, color transparencyand lenticulor screen, 20 x 24 cm, private collection.(Photo by Kim Timby)

im Timby's 3D and AnimatedLenticular Photography is a long-awaited addition to the litera-

ture on 3-D history and technology.In addition, it convincingly situatesthis particular 3-D format withinbroader histories of art, photognphy,film, material culture, and technolo-gy. Thoroughly researched, wellorgani zed, and engagingly written,Timby's study will be an essentialresource, gathering together episodesthat have heretofore only been pub-lished in articles and weaving theminto a substantial interpretive history.Whereas a parallel 3-D technology-holography-has been the subiect ofseveral book-length studies (by prac-titioners and curators), from thetime of its invention to the presentduy, the literature on lenticularimagery is comparatively sparse. For-tunately the subject attracted theattention of a historian of Timby'scaliber. The recipient of a doctoratefrom the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en

in 3-D: From Stereoscopy toVirtual Reality, 1850-2000. In thisnew volume, she presents the fullscope of her research on lenticularphotography, still concentratingmainly on the French context butranging across various subiects andformats from the 1890sto the 1990s.

Timby's interpretiveframework is indicatedby the book's subtitle:Between Utopia and Enter-tainment. Innovators oflenticular imaging cher-ished a utopian dream of

"a completely lifelikeimage, representing theworld as our sense per-ceive it-especially all ofits movement and depth"(p. 9). But the othermotivation driving thehistory of lenticularimagery was, as Timbyputs it, "the desire toentertain-or to f,ndattractive forms of theprocess that would sell"(p. 18). Between thehyperbolic claims forlenticular realism on theone hand, and casual dis-missals of its trivial appli-cations on the other,Timby flnds fascinating

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Autor: Timby, KimTitel: TIMBY 3D PHOTO5Medium: Stereo World National Stereoscopic Association, Inc.Rezensent: Salvesen, BrittVersion: 41, 5-2016, Seiten 18-19

ods proposed by A. Berthier, EugöneEstanave, and Frederick Ives. Next,Gabriel Lippmann introduced inte-gral photogrcphy, using a screencomposed of a network of lenses, tocreate a "window onto reality."Other key figures in this early chap-ter are Bonnet and Lumiöre, whosemethods of industrial productionand marketing strategies are dis-cussed in illuminating detail. Duringthis pre-World War II era, the processwas associated with stereoscopic real-ism, most strikingly demonstrated inphotographic portraiture. AfterWorld War II, animation becamemore popular, and this type oflenticular imagery appeared prolifi-cally in advertising and marketingcampaigns. Innovation during thissecond period occurred less in theoptical realm and more in the prod-uct-design realm. Lastly, Timby out-lines two interesting non-commer-cial areas of lenticular production: itsuse by artists in the 60s and 70s, andits use by amateurs in the 80s and90s.

Timby establishes an intellectualcontext for the salient technicalinnovations, while also filling in thesocial and economic contexts for theproducts of that research and devel-opment. She provides examples ofpopular formats for mass-producedlenticular imagery (such as portraits,keychains, and postcards), explain-ing how they were made, distributed,and collected. Crucially, she alsoconsiders the reasons for the demiseof certain formats, reminding thereader of the importance of noveltyas a driving force. Although Timby isclearly an enthusiast for all thingslenticular, she is not an apologist nordoes she ignore dead-ends and fail-ures. She closes with a brief butprovocative consideration of howlenticular photography might beaffected by digital technologies intoday's image-saturated world. It iscertainly possible-even probable-that lenticular imagery in differentforms will continue to rise and fallin popularity, because, as Timby con-tends, its illusions are perenniallypleasurable and perennially marginal.Costs, complexity, and competitionwill always limit its mainstreamadoption, while curiosity and collec-tability will sustain it on the fringes.With this compelling history athand, the reader can assess future

developments with both skepticismand eagerness.

As all devotees of 3-D and anima-tion know very well, the objects welove suffer from being difficult toreproduce. While this paperback vol-ume does not include an actuallenticular obiect on the cover as didParis in 3D, the illustrations are plen-tiful and effective. When necessary,multiple images are used to showhow effects of depth and lor anima-tion were achieved. Caption text isclear and precise. While there is nobibliography, all sources are fullycited in endnotes, which in turnpoint to any number of furtherresearch topics. It is to be hoped thatTimby's study will inspire others topursue some of these threads and toaugment her history with moreepisodes and case studies from othercountries. (Christopher Pinney'swork on Hindu devotional lenticu-lars, manufactured in China for theIndian market, suggests that thereading of depth and flatness is quitedifferent there than in Europe andthe Americas). It will also be good toconnect this history to research inthe fields of conservation and preser-vation, for as Timby points out, sev-eral of the manufacturing processesand materials are highly susceptibleto deterioration.

While in some ways overdue, 3Dand Animated Lenticular Photographyis also timely. It is relevant to currentdevelopments in both the art worldand consumer market. In the artworld, a limited number of artists(George LeGrady, Julian Opie, RafaelRozendaal, among others) are pro-ducing lenticular editions, andTimby's thesis prompts us to consid-er the balance of spectacle and sub-stance in this newer work. The stakesmay be higher in the commercialworld, where autostereoscopicscreens are being developed for tradeand consumer markets, even inadvance of a steady supply of con-tent. Timby's book helps explain thedesire for these glasses-free 3-D sys-tems and perhaps predicts their fate.

Britt Salvesen is Curator and Depart-ment Head of the Wallis AnnenbergPhotography Department, Prints andDrawings Department, at the Los Ange-les County Museum of Art, Vt-t

Newviews(Continued from page 7)

LIl23l16: o Moanao The Great WalI

I2l16l16: . Rogue One: A Star Wars Story(+IMAX)

LZI??lL6: . Ghosts of the Lusitania (RoughCut Pictures)

nl??l16: . Predators (BBC Earth & GiantScreen Films)

20L6: o Bioloü 2.0 Qa Compagni des

Taxi-brousse). Leonardo dcr Vinci (Camera Lucida

Productions). Spaced Out (Tycho Brahe

Planetarium), Wild Flight 3D (Atlantic

Productions, Colossus Productions). African Safari 3D. Amazing Might Micro Monsters 3D. Chuuk Lagoon 3D. The DNA Keyo Electropolis. Kiry Hawko Martainso Moon. Mystery of the Ebo Gogoo Ocean Giantso Patagonia 3Do Secrets of the Royal Gardeno Secret of the Universeo Smart Cities 3Do The Story of Cellso Volcano. WiId Light

3-D Moviesare the Top FiveT ftfith Star Wars: The Force AwakensY W wonderful success in 3-D, the

top five box office grossing films arenow all 3-D films. Domestically theyrank:1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens

2) Avatar

3) Titanic

4) lurassic World

5) Marvel's The Avengers

Worldwide they rank:7) Avatar

2) Titanic

3) Star Wars: The Force Awakens

4) lurassic World

5) Marvel's The Avengers

(Titanic was originally released in2-D, making most of its money fromthat release, but James Cameron wasalready making 3-D documentariesand probably would have madeTitanic in 3-D, if today's digital the-aters had existed in 2007 .) frfi

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