PICTORIAL STEREOGRAPHY 141known terrain, and the stereogram preserves the spirit of the
mysterious which the sight of the real thing brings.
The plane picture depends upon emphasis of some object or
group of objects. These must stand out from the rest of the com-
position by reason of tone, contour, or psychological emphasis.
In the stereogram the almost perfect monotone of the swamp pic-
ture attains far greater emphasis in the viewer than the most care-
fully composed plane picture. The emphasis is that of nature, not
the artificial emphasis of the pictorialist.
Beauty in the stereogram depends upon the taste of the stereog-
rapher. If he selects a truly beautiful subject, the stereogram will
automatically preserve all of that original beauty.
The pictorialist who turns stereographer must also use care
in selection. If he follows his usual method and seeks to make a
picture of some very commonplace subject simply by careful
treatment, he will meet only with failure. This is the reason why
pictorialists rarely become enthusiastic stereographers and why
they usually condemn stereography calling it a purely record
medium. The stereogram will reveal the commonplace subject
as commonplace. The magic of pictorial composition is gone.
The stereogram is the only reproductive medium known which
will reproduce an original in its exact original appearance.
The stereo-pictorialist must rely upon nature for his beauty
and be content to record it as it is. On the other hand, he has un-
limited choice of point of view, lighting, selective arrangement,
and so forth. The only thing that he must remember is that his
choice depends, not upon the tricks which can be used in plane
photography, but upon the effect of each choice upon the actual
appearance of the subject which is to be stereographed.
There is sufficient beauty in nature to satisfy the stereographer,
certainly, so instead of trying to create beauty from ugly raw ma-
terial, let him be content to present existing beauty in its most
appealing aspect. Such is the basis of stereo composition,
There are no limitations as to subject matter. Nothing is un-
suitable except a subject which is already planar. There would
be little point in making a stereogram of a flat page of a news-
paper. Anything which has solidity, which lies in more than one
plane, is a subject which will provide a better stereogram than
photograph.