Stereoscopy Day, 21 June 2025
21 June is Stereoscopy Day. Founded by the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, it marks the anniversary of the day in 1838 when Sir Charles Wheatstone presented his reflecting stereoscope to the Royal Society of London and demonstrated his theory of binocular vision.
Stereoscopes are optical instruments that allow flat images to be seen in 3D. Several examples of viewers dating from the 1860s to the Late 20th Century can be found in the Catching a Shadow Gallery at Hove Museum of Creativity for you to admire and learn more.
This particular one shown above, is not currently on display. It looks rather unremarkable initially, but it is a small and less noticeable detail which makes it significant. On the underside there is a circular metal plate around the joint socket which reads: GT Barnard, Brighton.
This indicates that the object has a noted local connection.
George Barnard was a local photographer, born in Hove in 1877. After working for some years with Ebenezer Pannell, George eventually took over the studio at 24 St George’s Road, Brighton. It had been the site of a photography studio since 1864. The premises operated under the name Barnard until at least the 1970s but had later become a wireless dealer as well as providing photographic services.
Presumably, George Barnard was selling stereoscopic viewers, but it is not known if he also produced stereoscopic slides of his own making to view in them.
Stereoscopic slides are also known as stereocards, we have a number in the collection featuring views of Brighton. The following set of 12 cards were published by the 20th Century Photographing Co. Ltd. and retailed by Boots.
Happy viewing!
