Scholars are increasingly investigating photography’s broad cultural role, expanding our understanding of the diversity of photographic practices. Kim Timby contributes to this new history of photography by examining the multifaceted story of images that animate with a flick of the wrist or appear vividly three-dimensional without the use of special devices—both made possible by the lenticular process.

Using French case studies, this volume broadly weaves 3D and animated lenticular imagery into scientific and popular culture, from early cinema and color reproduction to the birth of modern advertising and the market for studio portraits, postcards, and religious imagery. The motivations behind the invention and reinvention of this pervasive form of imagery, from the turn of the twentieth century through the end of the pre-digital era, shed new light on our relationship to photographic realism and on the forceful interplay in photography between technological innovation and the desire to be entertained.

3D and Animated Lenticular Photography: Between Utopia and Entertainment is a profusely illustrated and engaging interdisciplinary study of a wide-ranging body of images that have fascinated viewers for generations.

Scholars are increasingly investigating photography’s broad cultural role, expanding our understanding of the diversity of photographic practices. Kim Timby contributes to this new history of photography by examining the multifaceted story of images that animate with a flick of the wrist or appear vividly three-dimensional without the use of special devices—both made possible by the lenticular process.

Using French case studies, this volume broadly weaves 3D and animated lenticular imagery into scientific and popular culture, from early cinema and color reproduction to the birth of modern advertising and the market for studio portraits, postcards, and religious imagery. The motivations behind the invention and reinvention of this pervasive form of imagery, from the turn of the twentieth century through the end of the pre-digital era, shed new light on our relationship to photographic realism and on the forceful interplay in photography between technological innovation and the desire to be entertained.

3D and Animated Lenticular Photography: Between Utopia and Entertainment is a profusely illustrated and engaging interdisciplinary study of a wide-ranging body of images that have fascinated viewers for generations.

Die bedeutende kulturelle Rolle der Fotografie und die Vielfalt fotografischer Praxis stehen zunehmend im Fokus wissenschaftlicher Studien. Die Publikation leistet einen Beitrag zu dieser neuen Fotografiegeschichte, indem sie sich jenen Bildern widmet, die dadurch den Eindruck belebter Dreidimensionalität erwecken, dass sie bewegt werden. Auf der Grundlage von Fallstudien werden diese Linsenraster- oder Lentikularbilder und ihre Verwendung in Wissenschaft und Popkultur untersucht.
Die Motive, die die Neuentdeckung und Entwicklung dieser Technologie seit dem beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert vorwärts gebracht haben, werfen ein neues Licht auf unser Verhältnis zum fotografischen Realismus. Sie erhellen das Zusammenspiel von technischer Innovation und dem Verlangen nach Unterhaltung in der Fotografie.