All images courtesy of Barry Rothstein.
Have you ever had a moment that changed your life? Opened your eyes and been shown a new perspective that directed you to an unexpected passion?
Barry Rothstein, the local creator of numerous 3-D photography books was an amateur photographer on a family trip to Big Bear ten years ago when he stumbled upon an antique shop. He discovered a century old stereoscope, looked through the glass and found his life forever altered.
“I started playing around with this amazing old 3-D viewer and I thought, ‘My god, this has been going on for a really long time and I know absolutely nothing about it,’” said Rothstein. “It was life changing seeing this old stereoscope.”
Stereoscopes came about in the early 1800s and were the first step into 3-D entertainment. They gained popularity after Queen Victoria became enthralled with the medium in 1851 at the first World’s Fair in London’s Crystal Palace. Photographers were commissioned to travel the globe and bring to life exotic scenes such as the Sphinx or American Indians. Many British middle class families had 3-D viewers in their homes much like a radio or television. These predecessors to the modern-day View-Master work essentially the same way that all 3-D works—by providing a different image for each eye.
Shortly after his antique stereoscope encounter, Rothstein started creating stereoscope viewing cards. He used a slide bar for his camera to take a shot and then slide over an even path a very precise distance to capture the same image to simulate the right and left eye. He began with this technique for still-lifes but for active subjects like pets or insects he had to utilize a dual-mounted camera rig and a device that would synchronize the cameras.
As his interest in 3-D photography grew, he found that the instruments for the craft evolved. Recently, for example, Fuji has come out with a 3-D camera. “They’ve done a decent job with it. They’re very popular amongst the 3-D community,” said Rothstein.
Most of the photographs that Rothstein produces now are phantogram anaglyphs (color-filtered stereo-images). Phantograms are optical illusions where the image is stretched to reverse the effects of perspective and resized to proportionally fit the scene.
“A phantogram is a special class of 3-D image, they rise up out of the page, they also have the ability to sink down in,” he says. “What makes a phantogram so good is that it’s a very precise imitation of normal vision.”
Rothstein has used his pantograms to create beautiful art books, which are predominantly geared towards children. But, to adorn the blue and red colored glasses and feel like you can touch the objects leaping off the page could very well bring out the kid in adults as well.
Rothstein has a few self-published books that are available primarily online or in museum gift shops. Phantograms From Nature was Rothstein’s first self-publication and it’s a coffee table book full of high quality nature photos taken in Long Beach and along the West Coast up to Washington. Full of images that jump out at you in elaborate detail, the phantograms appear so real you can almost smell the damp earth beneath the protruding mushrooms, leaves or seaweed.
Chronicle Books has put out two of his animal-themed books, both of which his wife Betsy helped research and write. They can be found in bookstores across the USA and have also been printed in Japanese and Italian (a Hebrew version is in the works as well).
“I’d like to produce more books, but books are a dying breed,” said Rothstein. He is looking towards digital media and sends out a weekly image on his blog as way to share his unique images.
“When people ask, I give classes. I’ve taught many number of people [how to do 3-D],” he says. “There are national and international conventions and when I go I give seminars.” Rothstein even has a tutorial on his web page describing how to create your own 3-D photography.
Rothstein is also intrigued by the capability of 3-D for educational purposes. On his website he shows examples of fossils from the La Brea Tar Pits. “If you compare the information that you are getting from a standard 2-D photo versus a 3-D photo, the information is so much richer, so much more life like and interesting,” he says. “It provides so much more meaning.”
Rothstein feels it would be a great benefit for scientific texts and thinks that we are heading in that direction. “We see the world organically in 3-D. That’s what we do. We are so accustomed to our pictures being 2-D but you know that’s changing a bit,” he said.
“I love doing what I’m doing. I feel very fortunate to be able to say that. I don’t make a lot of money from my art. Not many artists really do. But, I love doing the photography and I always get excited when I come up with a new image.” Rothstein has found himself constantly on the look out for new 3-D subjects and thinks that when you get into any art form it changes your mindset.
When asked about what he hoped to accomplish with his photographic phantograms he said, “Essentially to show the world a better way to see things.”
Long Beach Post readers are offered 20% off of Rothstein’s books when purchased online, just enter in “lbpost” as a promotional code at checkout. 3ddigitalphoto.com