Every Friday I send out an email that features photos from the Rupert Leach Collection, snaps taken from the personal View-Master reels of View-Master’s Director of Photography in the 1940s and 50s. These never-before-published images show alternative shots of some commercial View-Master reels and personal photos of Leach, his wife Poppy, and others.
I try to get to the bottom of the people and places pictured within. Let’s dig in!
And we’re in Glastonbury for another week. To see last week’s adventure, and learn a ton about the place, see the last post.
This seems like another photo of the Glastonbury Thorn, which we covered throughly last time.
Glastonbury Abbey ruins lend themselves to 3D, don’t they? I couldn’t help myself, so I made a 3D video of it via Leiapix.com:
Here’s a photo of Rupert Leach himself taken in the middle of the ruins. Likely taken by Poppy, his wife.
And another lovely 3-D shot. We talked last time about how rich in history and lore this area is, and I must admit I kept reading up on it after I posted last time. So I figured I should share with you that back in 2015 these buzzkill historians totally said none of the cool legends happened here. Just to be clear: I think we’ve all taken debunking too far.
And here’s Poppy wandering the grounds of the Abbey. Glad she didn’t have to read up about how none of the awesome King Arthur stuff wasn’t real.
And another favorite trope of Rupert’s when it comes to 3-D photography: Through doors and windows.
And through a darkened arch to provide a framing for the photo.
And I went and checked the commercial View-master reels and found that single reel No. 1035 features two postcard shots of Glastonbury Abbey!
These are the sweeping shots you’d expect from a View-Master shot. These were likely taken by Rupert and Poppy on the trip we’ve been taking with them.
Classic shot of the remaining arches and entryway.
And, as a refresher, here’s an overview shot of the ruins from Wikipedia.
If you made it this far you should smash that ❤️ button so I know you’re out there and following along. Thanks for reading, friends!
The shapes of the architecture are lovely.
Rupert and Poppy are always dressed so smart! If I were on this trip, I'd be the typical lumpy tourist with a bulging pocketful of maps.