>
As with any science-based activity, stereo photography
rules underwent changes as both the
public's tastes, and technical knowledge
advanced. The age of modern 3-D photography
emerged
around the early 1950's with the introduction of the
Stereo Realist Camera. This system-based
product opened 35mm 3-D photography to the masses,
while encouraging further research and
development of the field.
Since the Stereo Realist was designed for shooting
transparency films, a great number of
similar cameras and related equipment were introduced
for public consumption by several
competing companies. But if slides
(transparencies) were to be the primary stereo media,
equipment for projecting before mass audiences became
a mainstay. That was when the
phenomenon of windows violations were most
obvious.
As science became a major part of the stereo
equation, experts in the fields
of photography, optics, and stereoscopy wrote
books and magazine columns that informed on the
"rights and wrongs" of stereo photography--in effect
the "rules" were codified.
One of the more recent experts, Jacobus Ferwerda of
the Netherlands produced a book in 1986, "The
World of 3-D--a Practical Guide to Stereo
Photography," which I believe is now out-of-print. That
book
is considered the foremost reference guide to modern
stereo photography.
I have enclosed a portion of that volume
which deals with what we in the Group refer to as window
violations.
As shown, Mr. Ferwerda simply indicates that they are
considered by many to be either "unpleasant and ugly," or
an "error." There are other earlier
references in my stereo library that also discuss the undesirability of stereo
window violations. I think that it's safe to say that as a
"rule" windows violations
are undesirable or may be even unacceptable in the
world of 3-D photography.
Marshall
>
