Architectural photography, outdoor photography and landscapes.

What inspired you to pursue QTVR technology?

From the start I was intrigued by the magical way in which virtual reality allows us to perceive space.

What do you like most about it?

The fact that you can make the panorama spin and that you can cutout a frame.

How does your interest in QTVR relate to your work?

This may sound trite, but in traditional photography the first challenge you face, when attempting to shoot complex spaces or ones that limit your range of movement, is in being able to fit everything into the frame. You need to find the exact spot from which to shoot and you must have the right wide-angle lens in order to include as much information as possible into the image. At times, if the wide-angle lens isn’t enough, I consider a technique thought by Paolo Monti, a great architectural photographer from the last century. His method consisted of joining two images that had been shot from the same point but had two different angles, after the tripod had been rotated by 90 degrees. The trick consists in finding the exact point of juncture where the irregularities, although visible, are minimized and become almost invisible at first glance.

In the faculties of architecture around the world, it is common practice to shoot a sequence of photos of a landscape or a territory (which don’t necessarily have to be at 360 degrees), and to display these images next to one another. This technique is reminiscent of the works by David Hockney. Although the seams remain visible, it is possible to achieve satisfying results if the images are shot accurately, so that the exposures are homogeneous. Nonetheless, you can still end up with irregular trimmings or a stratification of 10x15 prints, which is illegible.

The basis of QTVR consists of photographs that have been joined in a seamless manner. Initially, I considered this to be the most relevant aspect but later, after I learned some HTML, I moved on to the visualization of panoramic images in the form of QuickTime animations.

Do you also work with traditional photography?

Certainly, however I have started to get a different feel for it since using QTVR. What I mean is that a photograph has become less of a document but more charged with meaning. The frame is fixed, as if it were urging you: “Look here and nowhere else, this is what’s important. I want to show it to you, in this perspective, from this angle...”
QTVRs are more versatile and descriptive, they are more like: “You can look at this but if you want, you can also look over there and behind and below...”

What sort of technology and equipment do you use as part of your work?

For print, I use film and a scanner. Everything else is digital, Internet or CD-ROM. Of course there’s all the software for the stitching process, but mainly Panotools (thank you, professor Dersch!)

In your opinion, which subjects are best suited to this medium and why?

With QTVR the perception of space is immediate because the spinning of the image responds to our natural curiosity of looking, not just at the subject, but also at the context in which it is placed, which is a basic characteristic of our spatial perception. Therefore, QTVR is ideal in those situations in which one wishes to describe the context as much as the subject, and where the environment itself is the central theme of the image. However, our imagination is limitless and creative minds have shown that by pushing the boundaries of an instrument, sometimes surprising results can occur (such as Bruno Munari).

What awakened your passion for Optical art?

Every new technique needs to be explored, what I tried to do was to test the possibilities of movement and rotation within QTVRs. Instead of photographs, I chose images with simple graphics. Later, I discovered that with Optical art I could achieve some interesting results; that is how my research began.

What inspired you to utilize cubic VRs to visualize fantastic environments such as Escher’s?

It all started with a simple cylindrical QTVR: as I was browsing through a book on Escher, I noticed that the shape of one of his works Metamorphosis, which was a very long banner, was identical to the panoramic shots I was producing. Out of curiosity I tried making a VR out of it but soon forgot all about it. Later, after QuickTime 5 came out, I went back to Escher, seeking out those images that would best suit a cubic visualization in virtual reality.

Unlike most people who use QTVR, your inclination is towards abstract and/or graphic imagery. Why is that?

That’s not entirely true: as I said earlier, QTVR’s characteristics are intrinsically photographic and I use it mainly for this purpose, especially if working. But I enjoy playing with it... and also, in the words of Cartier Bresson: “I photograph what I cannot paint and I paint what I cannot photograph.”

What sort of feedback have you been receiving from other VR photographers?

I can’t really say, though I’m getting more and more requests to help others solve problems associated with QTVR production...

Other than publishing your work on the Net, have you considered creating installations for the specific purpose of displaying your experimental work?

Yes I have, especially while thinking about the work of Mario Sasso, an artist who uses video production techniques of the 60s. I was toying with the idea of having several different VRs on various screens, made as tiny, flat touch-screen monitors, integrated onto textile fabric. However, I believe the most important aspect is to maintain some form of interactivity, which is the QTVRs main characteristic.

Where do you see QTVR technology in three or five years' time?

With the constant evolution of hardware and software used for rendering heavy files, the QTVR will soon be able to have an extraordinary resolution and its applications will be endless.

If you could ask for additional features in QuickTime, which ones would you like to see?

QuickTime is powerfully complex software, I would like to be able to use simple interfaces (created by Apple or even third parties), which I can control and change at will. For instance, being able to add navigational buttons, customize cursors, control hotspots, optimize the streaming functions, adding animations and so forth. All these functions are currently available in QuickTime, however, at present they are hard to implement.

What is your most memorable experience associated with QTVR photography?

The light was perfect, diffused and even, no people, the tripod and the camera were weightless, as if by magic, the batteries stayed charged... The result: 60 panoramas in 6 hours.

Which QTVR would you be most likely to record given the opportunity?

Not one QTVR but a whole series, actually, a virtual tour... in an artistic place such as a dingy suburb or on the bottom of the sea, it’s not important. For me shooting QTVRs (just like shooting photos) is just a way to discover the world in its infinite facets.

Before we wrap it up, is there anything else you’d like to add?

The world of QTVR is double sided: on one hand we have panoramas, on the other hand we have objects. I focus almost exclusively on panoramas, however, objects can be utilized just as creatively and artistically.

Visit http://www.studioargento.com to explore more VR's by Tony Garbasso.