MESA, Ariz. — The National Stereoscopic Association's 35th annual convention was held this past weekend at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa Hotel and Convention Center, drawing approximately 350 fans of 3D photography from across the globe, and showcasing the talents of a large number of 3D artists—including some whose work celebrates the nude human form.
Since NSA 2009 was a family-oriented convention, the nude material to be shown in the "Stereo Theater" was largely confined to a block of presentations beginning at 10:30 Friday night, and care was taken to make sure no minors could sneak in to see it.
Certainly the best of show was longtime fine art photographer and stereographer Boris Starosta's "Nova Erotica," featuring a variety of models in softly lit artistic poses, which ran nearly 20 minutes. (Starosta also offers a CD-ROM of some of his work.) This author followed with a 15-minute show of softcore 3D images—hardcore was not permitted—taken on the sets of various adult movie shoots including Wicked Pictures' upcoming 2040, Adam & Eve's upcoming The Crack Pack, Girlfriends Films' Road Queen series, Third Degree's upcoming TM-Sleaze, and Hustler's "Henri Pachard Project" release Backstrokes and Toilette Fantasies, as well as their world-famous Who's Nailin' Paylin? (A gallery of some of the images from that show can be found here.)
Other contributors reached back into 3D's erotic past to present "The Bettie Page Show," a collection of 3D images of famous '50s model Bettie Page, and "Queen of the Fair," a look back at 1920s/'30s burlesque star Sally Rand.
In all, nearly 200 conventioneers attended the "3D porn" erotic show.
Although it had been hoped that some of the adult companies currently producing 3D sexual content would attend and exhibit their work, most were unable to rearrange their schedules, though we did run into New York-based producer Dominic Ford, whose website features both male solo and gay couples hardcore in anaglyph (red/blue) format.
We also caught up with Peter Sinclair of Snap 3D, who besides experimenting with taking sequential frames from hardcore movies and making them into animated "flicker" cards—remember those from when you were a kid?—is also the only guy in the western hemisphere who'll still print lenticular photos from Nimslo and Nishika 3D cameras. He's anxious to work with adult companies to help fulfill all their 3D needs, and samples of his stuff can be ordered from his website.
The convention also featured several workshops dedicated to properly mounting and displaying stereo (3D) images, though none this year dealing with making 3D movies; an art show with stereo paintings by several artists as well as 3D slides and cards (called "stereoviews," a format with origins in the mid-1800s); a trade show, where conventioneers were given their first look at Fujifilm's Finepix Real 3D camera and 3D viewer, both which will be on sale in the U.S. before the end of the year; and a late-night "Dive-In Theater," where attendees could enjoy clips from old 3D movies while relaxing in the hotel pool.
