3-D Diableries at the Observatory Room

The Observatory Room is a neat little place. Tucked down an alley in Gowanus, Brooklyn, the former warehouse hosts rotating exhibits and guest lectures, generally of a highly idiosyncratic nature. Recently we went with our friend Howard (and seemingly everyone else in town --- it was standing-room only) to hear filmmaker Ronni Thomas discuss his collection of eerie stereoscopes, including images of people afflicted with skin disorders, dead cats, and people being frightened, or pretending to be, by ghosts. The creepiest images, however, are known as diableries, all the rage (or some of the rage, anyway) in nineteenth-century France. Unknown artists painstakingly sculpted and styled miniature scenes of the devil misbehaving, then photographed them. Once the photos were printed, layers of colored tissue paper were attached and the photos were pricked in places, allowing the colors to come through when the photo was held to a stereoscope.

As we looked, we tried to imagine these attempts at visual storytelling in context: a parlor lit by candles, several souls willing to suspend their beliefs for a time in the interest of titillating entertainment. Our methods have changed, but that atmosphere remains remarkably consistent.

Top photo: thanks

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