Sir Brian May marked Stereoscopy Day with a close-up photograph of a yellow goats beard wildflower, posting the image to Instagram with a gentle correction for anyone who might mistake it for something else.
The caption made the identification clear: this is not a dandelion seed head. The flower is a yellow goats beard, also known by its folk name Jack-go-to-bed-at-Noon. May noted that the flowers are blooming in abundance near where he lives right now and flagged that the conditions offer “lots of stereoscopic opportunism possible here.” He called the photograph his “little gift” for the occasion and signed off with an invitation to “Have a Three Dee Day.”
Stereoscopy Day falls on June 21 each year. It celebrates 3D imagery in all its forms. A stereoscopic photograph is taken from two slightly different angles, mimicking the gap between a person’s eyes. The resulting pair of images, viewed correctly, creates a convincing sense of depth. The format dates back to the 1830s and saw enormous popularity during the Victorian era. It largely faded from mainstream culture after that, though a dedicated community has kept it alive.
May is one of the format’s more prominent contemporary advocates. He revived the London Stereoscopic Company in 2008, a Victorian-era photography outfit. Under his stewardship, the company has published multiple books of stereo-view imagery, including reissues of historical photographs and new work. May’s interest in the medium stretches back to childhood. He grew up captivated by Victorian stereoscopic cards, and that fascination never really faded.
The yellow goats beard is a common wildflower across the British Isles in late spring and early summer. Its seed head does resemble a dandelion’s. That’s likely why May took care to name it properly. He photographed the open flower rather than the seed head, catching it at its most visually distinct. The folk name Jack-go-to-bed-at-Noon comes from the plant’s habit of closing its petals by mid-morning on sunny days. Getting the shot means being out early.
For May, now 78, posts like this are fairly typical. He’s as likely to share a wildflower photograph or a night-sky image as a guitar clip. His captions tend toward the informative side and his enthusiasm reads as genuine. The account reads more like dispatches from a lifelong curious person than content from a managed celebrity page.
His career extends well past nature photography. Queen’s touring activity declined significantly after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991. The band has continued in various forms, most notably with Adam Lambert on lead vocals from 2011 onward. Outside music, May completed his PhD in astrophysics in 2007. He had set that work aside in the early 1970s to pursue Queen full-time.
Stereoscopy Day gave him a ready occasion, and he used it to point a camera at something he found near his home. The result is a small, well-observed photograph of a flower that most people walk past without a second glance.
