Queen star Brian May lends 3D photographs to Tate

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Chatterton's Henry Wallis in stereoscopeImage source, Tate Britain
Image caption,
If you relax your eyes and look "through" this image, you may be able to see it in 3D

Queen guitarist Brian May has lent some of his collection of Victorian 3D photographs to a new exhibition at London's Tate Britain.

May's stereoscopic images - created with two photos and using a special viewer - will recapture the 19th century craze for the art.

The new show will place reproductions next to the original artworks.

The Tate's exhibition, titled A Poor Man's Picture Gallery, runs from 13 October to 12 April next year.

May, now aged 67, says that his interest in collecting the stereoscopic images started with 3D items that came with packets of cereal when he was a boy.

Image source, AP
Image caption,
Brian May has been touring around the world with Queen

Twenty-six of his collection will be on display at Tate Britain, with 12 of them available to see through a special viewing device which creates the illusion of three dimensions.

May designed his own stereoscopic viewing device to bring the twin images to 3D life and calls himself an "evangelist" of the phenomenon.

The exhibition gets its name from how commonplace the photos were during the Victorian era, which could be purchased for a modest amount of money or be rented.

They were often discarded so are quite rare and hard to find today.

The Tate exhibition is the first major public display of stereoscopic work, and it is the first time original works have been put alongside them.

Image source, Tate Britain
Image caption,
Hearts are Trumps is one piece from Brian May's collection

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