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New Stereo site Launched

Monday, 10 June 2024
Published in News

A new section of the Jonathan Ross Collection has been launched.

 

www.jrstereocollection.com

 

Jonathan Ross has been collecting stereoscopic photographs since the 1980s and has been posting images from his collection on Instagram for several years (@jross286).

He is now digitising and cataloguing the material to make a more permanent database on this website.

A wide range of photographers are presented with extensive images and notes about their work.

The site also includes links to other Stereo and Stereoview resources.

It is an ongoing project which will be updated over the following months.

 

www.jrstereocollection.com

 

 

 

 

I first encountered stereo photography as a child of five or six when I came across a Holmes viewer and a set of World War I, or maybe it was Boer War views, in my mother's old nursery, when staying with my grandparents. I didn't find those particular views very appealing but the experience was memorable. Later, like most children growing up in the 1950s and 60s I encountered the Viewmaster phenomenon and red & green anaglyph 3D and always loved that magic moment when two flat images combine to make a single three-dimensional one.

Fast forward to 1990 and I had become immersed in holography, the ultimate in late 20th century 3D and gradually began to have a greater curiosity about earlier forms of three dimensional image making. A friend took me to a Photograph Collectors Fair where I was able to browse through hundreds, if not thousands, of mostly 19th century stereo views and acquire examples for as little as £1 each. It was irresistible.

Over the next ten years or so I amassed a sizeable collection of, mostly British, stereographs, and viewers of all shapes and sizes. I collected views of places I knew or was planning to visit and of subjects that appealed to me for a variety of reasons. All Victorian life was there in Genre Scenes, Still Life subjects, Pretty Girls, Children & Animals, and views of Landmarks and Beauty Spots throughout the UK.

As I became more discerning I took a special interest in particular photographers: the Landscape views of G.W.Wilson and the Genre views of Elliott and Silvester. These latter, mostly hand-coloured, images tend to be studio compositions, often with elaborate sets, telling Moral Tales , sentimentalising or poking fun at aspects of Victorian Life, or dramatising Well-Known Stories. The best examples are real jewels, dramatically composed and delicately coloured, and even these, at the time I bought them, were seldom more than £10 - £15 each which, considering that such fragile materials as paper and cardboard had managed to survive over 100 years, seems pretty good to me.

The selection of stereographs I am presenting here are some of my favourites from the Genre section of my collection. Some are from sequences or series that revealed themselves as I continued to visit dealers and fairs though, since I haven't come across any lists on which these images feature, I can't be sure that I have them in the correct order. I don't think it matters though as I enjoy looking at each one individually and I hope you will too.

Jonathan Ross
June 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stereo Views Included

Thursday, 06 February 2014
Published in News

We have now included a new section on the site which highlights some of the stereo views held in the collection.

This includes over 100 stereo 'slides' of people involved with holography - artists, scientists, producers and 'friends'.

There is also a full section on many of the Victorian stereo views in the collection and items from the 3x8+1 catalogue.

Take a look around the new sections here:

INTRODUCTION

HOLOGRAPHY PEOPLE

VICTORIAN STEREOS

3x8+1 EXHIBITION CATALOGUE

 

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An Invitation

The Jonathan Ross Hologram Collection website has been running for fifteen years so we decided it was time for a new look.

The new format has scope for lots more material so I would like to invite all the holographers whose work is featured here to submit background information, stories and images to supplement those I have provided. That way we can work together to make this the best resource on holographic imaging to be found on the web.

About the Collection

The Jonathan Ross Hologram Collection, based in London, UK, is one of the largest resources in the world for creative, display and commercial holography.

A number of touring exhibitions, containing work from the collection, have been presented in outstanding museums and galleries both within the UK and abroad. Information about new acquisitions and exhibitions is added here on a regular basis.  

Site content and images copyright © Jonathan Ross - All rights reserved