This book traces the rise of the 3D spectacle, from 19th-century stereoscopy to contemporary 3D filmmaking and artworks.

This book follows the advancement of 3D photography over the decades, showing how the practice has evolved and, ironically, returned to its most basic form of expression. Pursuing a career-long obsession, author Britt Salvesen explores the origins and impact of the stereoscope, featuring historic images by Jules Duboscq, Oskar Fischinger, Salvador Dalí, and others. She traces the invention to the dawn of film, and then to its post-World War II iterations, such as the ViewMaster, lenticular printing, and holography. Readers learn how 3D photography became incorporated into the work of such artists as John Baldessari, Dan Graham, and Andy Warhol. Encompassing more than 100 years of innovation and experimentation, and covering a wide range of genres, artists, and forms--from sophisticated perceptual experimentation to popular cinema--this volume shows how the mystery of 3D images remain appealing to 21st-century artists and audiences. Each book includes a 3D-viewing apparatus, to enhance readers' appreciation of the possibilities in this multi-dimensional form of artistic expression.