Barry Rothstein 3D
About / Biography
From high school on I was an amatuer photographer. I loved to work in a darkroom producing black & white photographs, and took plenty of color shapshots besides. But my life took a dramatic turn when I saw a stereoscope at an antique store. At first I didn't know what it was or how it worked, but once I figured it out a switch turned on in my brain and hasn't yet clicked off. Not only was I amazed by the 3-D images I saw there, but also at how ignorant I was of stereo (3-D) photography. This was so incredibly cool, and I knew nothing about it. For a little over a year I produced hundreds of 3-D cards for my stereoscope, forcing all my poor friends and relatives to look at my 3-D pictures.
In 2004 through an internet search I learned that National Stereoscopic Association was holding a 3-D convention in Portland, Oregon. There I saw my first photographic phantograms by stereographers Steve Hughes and Terry Wilson. Wow! They were amazing, the coolest thing I'd seen yet in 3-D! And better yet, Steve Hughes was teaching a workshop there on how to make them. Within a few month I'd produced hundreds of "tabletop phantograms" of all sorts of household items. I started to create my own techniques to produce phantograms of natural outdoor settings. The results were some truly stunning 3-D nature images.

I knew I wanted to make a children's book of phantograms. My first attempt was "Snack City 3-D", a fun series of rhymes illustrated with

phantograms of all kinds of wonderful snacks. In "Snack City" each day a brother and sister wonder what snack their mother will have for them after school. New at the game, knowing no publishers, and nothing about publishing, the manuscript of "Snack City 3-D" sits on a shelf in my house.

With perhaps a dozen great nature images already done, I hit the road in the winter of 2005. I drove up the coast alone, looking everywhere for good nature shots. I took the plunge and self-published "Phantograms from Nature, Western USA" (May 2005), a beautiful coffee table book of 3-D nature photography, the world's first book of photographic phantograms.

With "Phantograms from Nature" to show off, I was able to approach a children's book editor at Chronicle Books, and happy day, she wanted to do a children's book with me.

In the meantime I assembled many of my favorite phantograms into "Pop-Up 3D" (March 2007). Along with the 3-D images I wrote a hands-on explanation of the science of 3-D, and encouraged kids to do 3-D images themselves.

The children's book project with Chronicle Books was long in the making and resulted in "Eye-Popping 3-D Pets" (Fall 2009). I took the 3-D pictures and Betsy wrote the book. It has sold well enough that Chronicle wants to do more "Eye-Popping 3-D" books. The next one will be "Eye-Popping 3-D Bugs", and I've recently been informed that a publisher in Japan will soon be doing a Japanese edition of "Eye-Popping 3-D Pets." Pretty cool.

I produced another book called "Crossview 3-D" (May 2009) which teaches the ability to see 3-D images without any type of glasses.

I feel excited and blessed to be experiencing and to be a part of the 3-D Revolution that's happening right now. I love to share what I've learned, and regularly teach what I know of 3-D to anyone who asks. On my other website I've got tutorials on how to make 3-D images and instructions on how to make phantograms.

The life an an active artist-sterographer isn't all roses and awards. Instead we learn to expect apathy from art curators and gallery managers. Sterography is often denigrated as just gimicky and kid's stuff. We've become used to thinking of photography as only a 2-D medium. Ray Zone somewhat jokingly calls it "the oppression of the flat." Lately however we've seen evidence of more exhibits and greater acceptance and respect of our work, probably due to the rapid rise in the popularity and quality of recent 3-D films.

To sum it up, I am driven to make great 3-D images. I hope to produce a large body of work, covering a broad range of subjects. I look to produce images that captivate and excite people, leaving no doubt of their artistic value. I work to thrill himself, and in doing so, to thrill others.
To learn more about 3-D, see images, purchase books or cards, ..... check my website at www.3dDigitalPhoto.com