Getty Museum

Telescope

Date

about 1855

Medium

Color lithograph

Culture

French

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

In 1838 Charles Wheatstone discovered that humans can perceive depth when the brain combines two slightly different images. Using a dual-lens camera, with the centers of the lenses set the same distance apart as the centers of human eyes (2 ½ inches), he created images of what one eye would see. When viewed through the stereoscope viewer, the two images combined to create the impression of a three-dimensional object. He also established that in order to convey the illusion of depth, a strong foreground worked well. In this photograph, the lines on the floor draw the viewer's eye deeper into the background. Gift of Weston J. and Mary M. Naef

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