NEW YORK, 1974 : STEPHEN SHORE

The Lapis Press is pleased to present New York, 1974, a series of 3D lenticular editions by the acclaimed photographer, Stephen Shore. These three editions are the first lenticular prints by Shore and carry on his multi-faceted exploration of the everyday world by creating a vivid sense of spatial awareness within a two-dimensional image. Taken from 3D slides he made in 1974 with a Stereo Realist camera, the editions reinterpret the stereoscopic effect as lenticular prints. Collaborating with Shore, Lapis translated the stereo images into 20 x 18 inch lenticular pictures, presenting the illusion of depth without the use of a stereo viewer.

Shore’s interest in stereoscopic photography is indicative of his ongoing experimentation with photography to see the world with a heightened awareness. Much like his use of color and his focus on commonplace subjects, Shore’s utilization of 3D photography continues his desire to solve the problem of how densely structured he could make a picture.

I spent the summer of 1974 traveling across America, photographing with an 8 x 10 view camera. My aim was to explore the face of our culture. At the same time, I had a formal, photographic goal: to understand how to clearly represent three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface of a photograph.

Later that autumn, I thought I’d approach this formal question, the representation of space, from an opposing tact. I bought a Stereo Realist camera. It had two lenses spaced at about the distance of our eyes. It produced transparencies that, when viewed through a special viewfinder, created a three-dimensional image. Using this camera was the main focus of my work until the end of that year.

In the winter of 1975, I exhibited about 15 of these pictures at Light Gallery in New York City. I had met someone who loaned the gallery a Stereo Realist camera store display viewer. At the end of the show, he wanted it returned. Regardless of how exciting it was to produce these images, the problem of display or exhibition was daunting.

Now, almost 50 years later, The Lapis Press has developed a digital technology, creating layers that accentuate spatial depth which, coupled with a lenticular screen, produces a print with a three-dimensional image. My old stereo transparencies have a new life.

- Stephen Shore