Interview [Interview Photography]

AS HAS happened so many times for this legendary guitarist as the lights dim, the crowd settles into impatient and yet hushed expectation. Brian May saunters onto the stage followed by two colleagues. He takes to the lectern flanked by Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming, makes a joke or two, and introduces the subject of this evening\´s lecture: 19th century stereoscopic photography. As odd as it might seem, May and his co-authors are launching a new book on historic 3D imagery at the British Library to a select band of a few hundred enthusiasts. \´Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell\´ is May\´s second publication on what is now an all-but forgotten art form (his first was his rather bucolic \´A Village Lost and Found\´, which celebrated the work of British stereographic pioneer TR Williams). "It\´s been a dream of mine for decades to bring stereo photography to London," he informs the audience. For a man who has lived under the spotlight of soaring international success as a musician for most of his adult life, this might at first glance appear something of a modest dream. But, as the curiously gothic event progresses - it was held on the eve of Halloween - what becomes clear is that May is deadly serious, and his dream could well be more accurately described as an obsession.