From grand tour to virtual tour

Italy through the stereoscope in 1900

Bibliographic Data

ID18997398
AuthorsPaolo Parmeggiani (corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume31
Issue3
Pages231-247
Publication date2016-07-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueVisual Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1472-586X • E-ISSN: 1472-5878
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1472586x.2016.1209985
OpenAlexW2510430665
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited30

In 1903, Underwood & Underwood published Italy through the Stereoscope: Journeys in and about Italian cities, a multimodal set that provided an immersive travel experience by combining the use of a visual device (the stereoscope and stereoviews), localisation tools (the maps), and a written commentary on each view. The paper argues that this ‘medium’, which was introduced as a realistic and immersive visual reproduction of the world, was an innovative forerunner of modern virtual–reality technologies. The visual three-dimensional effect obtained by the stereoviews is just one of the characteristics meant to enhance the ‘virtual’ experience of the viewer. The author analyses the rhetorical means, strictly intertwined with the photographic representations, to reinforce the impression and emotion and to replace the physical experience of a tour with that of an armchair traveller. The framing of the picture, the choice of the points of view, and the style of staging and posing the people reveal an international standard. In spite of their claim of realistic representation, this vision is not ideologically neutral, and the analysis of this set reveals the biases and prejudices towards not only strangers but also the ‘old’ technology of 2D photography. For social and economic reasons, the ancient practice of taking the grand tour faded, but the conspicuous consumption of this medium allowed the middle class to gain cultural capital with a 3D visual tour in order to claim refinement

Aesthetics · Art · Ideology · Literature · Political science · Politics · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Visual arts · Cinema and Media Studies · History · Law · Photography and Visual Culture · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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