MOUNTAINS OF KONG - STEREOSCOPIC IMAGES FROM A LOST LANDSCAPE - JIM NAUGHTEN

A 3D PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK THAT EXPLORES THE MYTHICAL MOUNTAINS OF KONG - LIMITED EDITION - PUBLISHED BY HOOP EDITIONS

Jim Naughten returns with this, his third 3D photobook, to document an imaginary expedition to the phantom mountain range. Thirty-five stereoscopic images chart the Mountains of Kong's flora and fauna and can be viewed in 3D using the viewer built into the book. Photography curator Susan Bright opens the book with an insightful foreword, Jon Loades-Carter contributes a brilliant historical essay and Denis Pellerin, director of the London Stereoscopic Company, provides background to stereoscopy.


The Mountains of Kong appeared on the finest maps of the world for over a hundred years. First 'discovered' by Scottish explorer Mungo Park in 1798, they ran from Guinea in West Africa and continued eastwards connecting to the (also fictitious) Mountains of the Moon. During the following hundred years explorers returned with wild tales of an impassible mountain range, 'pink, snow capped, flowing with gold' and teeming with strange exotic animals. Finally, in 1889, French explorer Louis Binger returned from his expedition and burst the bubble: they simply did not exist.

Breathing fresh life into the myth, Naughten made these stereoscopic images in Scottish and Welsh mountains, and some fantastic natural history museums around the world. Colours were incorporated to enhance the mythical nature, and aquatic and non-African animals were added to the menagerie. Anything goes in the Mountains of Kong!



The stereoscopic technique was at the height of its popularity at the same time as the mountains were at theirs: the mid 1800s. At that time, stereoscopic images of strange exotic lands allowed Victorians to explore the four corners of the world from the comfort of their armchairs. It was the Internet and TV of the time. What better way to explore the Mountains of Kong today?

The book was successfully funded on Kickstarter, because books like this, where the production is more complicated and the costs greater than a generic book, are a less attractive option for big, profit-driven publishers. For us, it is important that these types of art books continue to have a place on people's bookshelves.

The work is both engaging and playful, but also functions as a comment on the mutability of historical fact: the past appears to be in a constant state of flux, with endless revisions and alterations. Perhaps the elusive Mountains of Kong will one day rise again...