The collages, which open Tom Pnini’s exhibition “Ballade to the Double”, bear images taken from a series of stereoscopic photographs from the end of the 19th century. The photographs follow after the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad in Nevada, USA. In order to create the three dimensional illusion of these photographs, the “frozen” photographic moment is being captured from two almost identical viewpoints. The viewer has to use a stereoscope device which combines the two images into one. As Pnini takes the images away from the stereoscope device, the photograph is removed from its original function and the “by-product” of the magic is reviled and appears before us as a duplication and a double of the critical moment of the traditional photography.
From Balade to the Double exhibition text.