CAZENOVIA — On Wednesday, Nov. 10, local artist Dave Porter will present a collection of 3D anaglyphs of historic local photographs at the Cazenovia Public Library (CPL).
The event, titled “Historic Cazenovia in 3D,” will be held at 7 p.m. in the community room.
Porter will present approximately 50 images, a number of which are based on Mather & Lyon stereo pair images (also known as stereographs or stereoviews) taken by William H Lyon during the late 19th century.
Charles Place, a descendant of Lyon, recently donated the Mather & Lyon photographs to CPL.
According to CPL Archivist Elisha Davies, Lyon was born in the Pompey area in 1850. [In 1872], after attending Cazenovia Seminary, he went into business with Henry S Mather, forming Mather & Lyon.
“The images I’ve seen accredited to them are of local landscapes and village buildings,” said Davies. “I don’t believe they did portraits. They dissolved their partnership in 1877, and Lyon moved to Baldwinsville and started another photography studio. A few years later, Lyon returned to the Pompey area where he lived until his death in 1910.”
Porter produces anaglyphs from stereo pair images by tinting the right image red and the left image blue, and then overlaying the two images. The resulting image can be viewed in 3D using red/blue glasses. According to the artist, the colored lenses block the opposing image, and the brain interprets the resulting optical input as a three-dimensional image.
Program participants will each receive a pair of 3D glasses to view the images.
“Our weekly ‘Throwback Thursday’ posts on social media reveal that there is a love of local history and transportive images that teach us about our past,” said Davies. “We’re thrilled that Dave is joining us to take a walk down the sidewalks of yesteryear.”
Porter, who has lived in the Village of Cazenovia since 1985, collects local historic photographs as a way to connect with his community. According to the artist, Cazenovia has an especially rich photographic history. Early Central New York photographers began producing affordable images, including stereo pair images, in the late 1800s.
Porter has been producing anaglyphs since 1997. He has presented several shows of his work for the CPL and the Friends of Lorenzo. This past summer, he exhibited a collection of anaglyphs of historic photographs in the Earlville Opera House Virtual Gallery. The majority of the 40 images were of Cazenovia. His images are also used in Cazenovia Middle School as part of CPL’s local history program.
Porter said that in addition to the Mather & Lyon images, his upcoming show will also include some of the anaglyphs he presented in the past and numerous anaglyphs he prepared in the last two years.
“Some of the views I previously included in my shows have been enhanced as my technique has progressed,” he added.
To learn more about Porter and his work, visit daveporterart.com.
All CPL events are free and open to the public. Attendees will be asked to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
For more information, call 315-655-9322 or visit cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.
