Vectographs are PHYSICAL POLARIZED PRINTS that were viewable stereoscopically with linear polarized glasses. They are created with substrates that were mechanically polarized– i.e. materials that were physically stretched to achieve linear polarization properties.
These substrates have a definite shelf life, I have observed deterioration and mechanical “shrink-back”- (a word I am making up to describe the material substrate shrinking back to its original, pre-polarized form) in ALL Vectographs I own, as well as those from other collectors.
They seem to have a self life of about 80 years.
I will be making posts soon about Vectographs and Stereojets, but in the meantime it is absolutely imperative to communicate THE NEED TO STEREOSCOPICALLY RECORD WHATEVER STEREOSCOPIC POLARIZED IMAGES THAT CURRENTLY SURVIVE. Luckily, this is a very simple task to preform.
Simply photograph your VECTOGRAPH or STEREOJET PRINT through a pair of linear polarized glasses, the same type that you would use to view the images woth your own eyes.
Take one THROUGH THE LEFT LENS AND ONE THROUGH THE RIGHT LENS, and you will have the two separate left and right images recorded as they are presented to be viewed in 3D. A program such as Stereo Photo Maker or the i3D Steroid app can then be used to format the 2 resulting stereoscopic images in a number of different stereoscopic viewing formats.
Although the original physical vectograph may be lost to the annals of time, the stereoscopic images they contain can be saved for posterity and communicated long after they are gone. I have not experienced this in stereojet prints yet, but I do have one that has a very tight and uncontrollable curl to it as it was never framed. As stereojet prints were invented in the 2000s, I suspect stereojets might incur the same fate eventually, once their substrates mature to this age of 80 years
I hope all VECTOGRAPH and STEREOJET owners will take heed and record them IMMEDIATELY- disintegration sometimes happens within the course of a few days, if yours are intact enough to photograph, then the time to capture them IS NOW.
Thank you for your time, attention, interest & hopefully, efforts as well!
-ilicia
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