News

It’s Stereoscopy Day on the 21st of June!

The Stereoscopic Society will be contributing to the Stereoscopy Day celebrations with an online Zoom meeting at 8:00 pm BST (GMT +1) on Friday 21st June 2024 to present The Stereoscopic Society Annual Exhibition 2024, showing all the 3D images submitted in this year’s competition including the award winners and a selection of images from each of the 3 judges.

Stereoscopy Day – Annual Exhibition 2024
Time: Friday 21 June 2024 at 8:00 PM London BST (GMT+1)

Duration: approximately one hour

Format: Side-by-side parallel

No registration is necessary.  All you need to do is open up Zoom in your web browser and login using the following details:

Meeting ID:  848 7355 0108

Password: 176705

Everyone is invited to enjoy the wonderful images and maybe even meet some of the very talented stereo photographers who took the photos. 

See you there!

 


The 130th Anniversary of the society in Amateur Photographer Magazine


The 130th Anniversary of the society has been Celebrated with a 4 page article about The  Stereoscopic Society printed in Amateur Photographer magazine.
This analogue special issue hit the shop shelves on 20th June 2023, or can be bought as a single issue direct from the publishers.

Amateur Photographer magazine front cover issue 2325

Amateur Photographer magazine front cover issue 2325

Sir Brian May appointed first-ever Patron of The Stereoscopic Society

The Stereoscopic Society is proud to announce the appointment of Sir Brian May CBE as its patron!

The Queen guitarist and songwriter, singer and arranger was awarded a Knighthood in the 2023 New Year Honours list for his services to music and charity.  In 2009 he set up his animal welfare charity, The Save Me Trust, to protect and care for wildlife and in particular the species native to Great Britain.

However, he is equally well-known and highly regarded in the stereoscopic community and his Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, also a charity, houses one of the world’s largest collections of stereoscopic images.  He is also an accomplished astrophysicist and has worked with NASA to produce 3-D images of asteroids and planets.

The Stereoscopic Society is the world’s oldest stereoscopic club, being founded in 1893, so this year marks its 130th anniversary.  Sir Brian’s passion for stereoscopy dates back to his childhood and his association with the Society goes back many years, to the 1970s, when his neighbour, who was the Society’s president at the time, invited him to one of the Society’s London meetings.

What better way of acknowledging this long association, and the work he does to raise the profile of all things 3-D, than to invite him to become The Stereoscopic Society’s first-ever patron?  Welcome back Sir Brian!

Photo © Denis Pellerin 2023.

3D Meetings On Line

(By Robert Caley – As published in The Stereoscopic Society Journal No. 225.)

Like many others, I suspect that, if asked to describe 2020 in one word, I would choose unprecedented without hesitation.  Lockdown in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of The Stereoscopic Society meetings scheduled for the remainder of the 2019/20 season and the annual convention in Harrogate which I had been very much looking forward to.

webinar participants wearing 3D GlassesBut it has not all been bad news. As physical doors closed, many doors into a virtual, online world opened thanks to Zoom, Webex and Google and the efforts of 3D enthusiasts around the globe.  Society President Colin Metherill took the lead in setting up online meetings for members through a variety of platforms and a number of members have kindly taken over as hosts for what have become regular meetings.

Looking back now, I can hardly remember a week since late April when I’ve not attended at least one online 3D-related meeting.  Despite initial widespread concerns about the security of some online meeting platforms, only one of the many meetings I’ve attended to date has been “porn bombed”.  The organisers soon had the situation under control and set up an alternative meeting, taking heart from the fact that someone had regarded our meeting as being worth disrupting.

Armed with my trusty computer and alarm clock I’ve been able to attend 3D events organised around the world and enjoyed the opportunities to hear presentations by well-known experts.  The good news for those of us in the UK who can’t face getting up in the small hours is that meetings and presentations are often recorded and can be enjoyed by a larger audience after the original event.  Visit, for example, NYSA Presents! and Brooklyn Stereoscopic Community for a taste of what you have missed.

Many clubs now hold their meetings in Zoom, etc..  It is not uncommon for attendances at online meetings to be higher than those at previous face-to-face meetings and lockdown saw a notable innovation in the form of the first online-only stereoscopy club, the Brooklyn Stereoscopic Association (subsequently renamed the Brooklyn Stereoscopic Community) who hold fortnightly meetings and set out with a clear mission to “create a comfortable, inclusive environment and run the club in such a way that actively seeks and promotes diversity, inclusion and respect in its members, topics and presentations”.

Online meetings have given enthusiasts around the world opportunities to attend meetings without the cost of travel and accommodation and several have been tempted to give their first presentation and share their particular interests.

Highlights of the online meetings I attended include :

Although I miss face-to-face meetings and the opportunities they allow for large screen projection, I’ve been impressed by how 3D enthusiasts have adapted during 2020 and can see virtual and hybrid meetings playing an important role in the future of The Stereoscopic Society and similar organisations around the world.  Not only do they allow us access to a wider pool of presenters but they also open up meetings to a wider potential audience. As more and more existing members become confident using the major online meeting platforms, the challenge will be to attract new, younger members.  The number of stereoscopic images displayed on platforms like Instagram suggests that there are lots of creative 3D enthusiasts out there.

Huge thanks to the many people whose efforts have allowed all the above events to happen.