New perspectives on photography and binocular vision.
This book explores how binocular rivalry, termed ""the human shutter,"" provokes a reexamination of the standard chronology of cinema. The role of the human shutter is demonstrated here with a preliminary taxonomy of astonishing images excavated from the photographic archive. The book first looks at how photographic stillness, depth, and motion emerged en masse, departing from the gradualist narratives familiar in histories of photography and film. Next, the book addresses the role of binocular vision in the history of painting and photography. It further examines the rich history of early stereoviews that constitute the origins of photographic cinema and other instances of temporality. Last, the work explores what happens after light arrives at the retina, employing the stereoscope as a metaphor for critical thinking.
In addition to these new perspectives, the book contains significant original research on early photographers who explored motion with binocular vision, especially Antoine Claudet and Giorgio Sommer. The volume also takes into consideration the work of modern and contemporary artists and experimental filmmakers who have focused on stereoscopic spaces, including Marcel Duchamp, Robert Smithson, Lucy Raven, Ken Jacobs, Alfons Schilling, Arakawa and Gins, and OpenEndedGroup.
By:
Robert L. Bowen
Imprint: Intellect Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 244mm,
Width: 190mm,
Spine: 19mm
ISBN: 9781835950395
ISBN 10: 1835950396
Series: Investigations of Lens and Screen Arts
Pages: 270
Publication Date: 17 March 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Quickstart Guide 1. Antoine Claudet ... Photographer 2. The Mind Completes the Action–Herschel’s Dream 3. The Human Shutter; Binocular Rivalry and Delirium in Two-frame Cinema 4. Cutting Into the Picture Plane: Painting, Binocular Vision 5. Walter Benjamin; Cascading Metaphors of Binocular Vision and the Unique Perspectives of Lucy Raven and Jean-Luc Godard 6. Taxonomies of Duration in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Stereographic Media 7. Joseph Spithover or How to Be in Two Places at Once (Maybe More) 8. Schilling 9. Crowd Control: Giorgio Sommer and Ken Jacobs 10. The Crystalline Visions of Robert Smithson 11. Reality and Virtuality: Marcel Duchamp, Arakawa and Gins, OpenEndedGroup 12. The Model of the Model Glossary Bibliography Index of Names
Robert L. Bowen is a New York-based artist, writer, and professor teaching photography, film, and art history. His work has focused on perception, distinguishing illusion from reality in photography, stereoscopic cinema, and experimental architecture.
