By Ann-Marie AlcĚÁntara
We’ve all seen beautiful photos and GIFs of San Francisco, but nothing is quite like Doctor Popular’s 3D GIF series “3D City.” The GIFs are hauntingly beautiful and make every day in San Francisco look a little strange.
3D City” began last February with the first postings on Mission Mission. The images, similar to cinemagraphs, are more commonly known as wigglegrams and create a 3D effect by combining and looping a few frames together. While you could theoretically create wigglegrams with any photos, Doctor Popular actually used a 3D camera to do so.
Taking photos in 3D wasn’t the sole purpose of the project. Instead, Doctor Popular wanted to capture the street life we see — then forget about — in San Francisco. “I just really like the look and feel of the streets when combined with the contrasts and grains on 35mm black and white film,” Doctor Popular said. Although most people use digital images and videos to create GIFs, Doctor Popular has found that film works just as well. “I’m not foolish enough to believe that every image is better when it’s converted into a 3D wigglegram, but there are times when an image that I already liked seems to pop off the screen,” he said.
Many of the wigglegrams were taken with either a digital or a Nimslo 3D film camera. The black and white images almost conjure another era in the city. According to Doctor Popular, “Each photo tells a little story, which is easier to get right into when you remove the color.”
With more than 200 GIFs in the series, Doctor Popular would like to adapt the images into a zine or animated eBook. But he’s not done experimenting with GIFs yet — he’s even thinking of starting a quarterly GIF e-publication featuring artist interviews, tips, tricks, and, of course, GIF art.
You can check out the full collection here, or just enjoy some of the favorites we’ve picked out. We sure are lucky to live with such interesting streets, right?
Search, Discover, Share, and Create Animated GIFs | GIPHYGIPHY is your top source for the best & newest GIFs & Animated Stickers online. Find everything from funny GIFs…giphy.comSearch, Discover, Share, and Create Animated GIFs | GIPHYGIPHY is your top source for the best & newest GIFs & Animated Stickers online. Find everything from funny GIFs…giphy.comSearch, Discover, Share, and Create Animated GIFs | GIPHYGIPHY is your top source for the best & newest GIFs & Animated Stickers online. Find everything from funny GIFs…giphy.com
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