T. Enami (1859-1929) recorded life in Meiji-period Japan on a 3D stereoview. Based at his Yokohama studio, Enami achieved the effect by capturing two photos of the same scene, shifting slightly his angle a little between takes. When looked at through a stereoscope, because each eye sees a slightly different image the overall appears in three dimensions.
Enami worked with black and white film before artists brushed in the colors.
1908 Sears catalog:SEARS & ROEBUCK wanted to offer Enami’s views as a 100-view set in their “Big Book” catalog of 1905. They obtained non-exclusive rights to the real-photos from Ingersoll, and then converted them to 3-color “Litho-views”. With Sears’ catalog having a print run of 6,000,000 copies a year, ENAMI’S set of Stereoviews became a best seller for them, and remained a regular catalog item for 6 years. – Okinawa Soba
Images via Okinawa Soba’s Flickr, PinkTentacle
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