Pinhole Camera (part 1)
by Adrian Hanft, (9 comments)
I have been thinking about pinhole cameras since last week when I was describing the photography of Abelardo Morell to my creative director. If you are unfamiliar with Abelardo Morell, the link above will take you to a gallery of his work. What Morell is famous for is essentially turning entire rooms into cameras. By blocking out all the light in a room except for a small aperture on the window, the image outside the room is projected across the room. Morell, standing inside the “camera” used a long exposure to photograph the inside of the room with the outside projected upon the interior. With a little more research, I learned that what he was building is actually called a camera obscura, a tool that dates back to the 5th century BC. The reason I bring this up is partly because I took some heat a few posts back for criticizing Paula Scher, a technophobe, for endorsing the G5.
I came off as a bit of a “techno snob,” in trying to make the argument that the computer is just a tool. Whether or not we embrace technology, I think all of us have experienced some degree of techno burnout. As designers we are constantly rushing to upgrade our computers, learn the latest software, and fix the endless bugs and glitches. It wears us out, and sometimes interferes with our creativity.
The place where I feel the burnout the most is in the realm of digital photography. Unlike when I am doing web design, photography is something I can do without a computer. My photography is a very personal experience, and for the last few months, I haven’t been able to shake my thoughts that it doesn’t have to be so complex. It doesn’t have to be so … digital.
My camera doesn’t need to be a computer. It doesn’t need a phone attached to it. It doesn’t need megapixels. It doesn’t need optical zoom, unlimited settings, and a 209 page operating manual. In fact, it doesn’t even need a battery, a lens, or film. I am tired of fighting with a machine that thinks it knows what I am trying to do better than I do. The camera isn’t taking the photo, I am, and I want the control back.
I need to get back to basics. I miss the sound of the shutter release. I miss turning the crank to advance the film. I miss turning the lens to bring the subject in and out of focus. I miss the darkroom. So, this weekend I stripped it all away and built myself a pinhole camera. All it took was black electrical tape, some black matte board, a needle, and a Pepsi can. Maybe it isn’t the most practical thing, but it sure feels good to free myself from technology, if just for a little while. Now that I have built my low-tech camera, I have lots of experiments I want to try. I look forward to sharing them with you in part 2.
Comments (9)
p.berkbigler said:
So good to here and see reference to Morell on the site - his “room” photos have been some of the most stunning and dreamlike pictures I’ve seen in recent years and knowing his methodology for creating them somehow makes them even more ethereal and otherworldly.
I know deep down you’re all about getting your hands wet/dirty/involved in your work, Adrian, and you’re dead-on with the feeling I’ve gotten about the computer lately…I think we’ve also both felt a tremendous amount of excitement about what the computer offers in some of the former points in our careers. They are incredible, exciting, innovative tools and they open a wide range of possibilities for working - they just seem to be fast reaching a level of complexity overdrive that mandates such an extensive amount of relearning and reacquaintence with each new software release and each new software type that I fear we’re engineering ourselves out of some of the more spontaneous and gut-level reactions necessary for creating good work.
It only takes one or two days of sitting around in Photoshop considering what the appropriate filter combination would be to adequately simulate shadowing, texture, lighting, and other atmospheric details before a switch in your brain goes “Why don’t I just set-up this shot in my backyard and shoot it with my 35mm?”
Morell is so physically engaged in putting these photos together, not to mention his knowledge and trust in the extensive time-investment necessary to pull these shots off - it’s so exciting because it’s such an active way of working and looks extensively more appealing than spending hours in a chair in front of a monitor getting the details right…
Great to hear that you jumped over to a DIY approach particularly in response to digital photography (again, an extremely exciting technology that offers much but demands much relearning/new learning to perfect - a good friend in town just mentioned that one of the best photo-processing houses in St. Louis just switched over to a “radical new approach” towards processing and printing digital photos: they take the a raw PSD digital image and sensitize it as a photo-negative to then make the print from the physical photo-negative as opposed to the pixelated version - I love it when we go back to the original technology because it’s ultimately more appealing!)
I’ll be anxious as well, Adrian, to see some of the fruits of your labors show up in the photo blog and around the site.
Posted on December 17, 2004
Clinton Carlson said:
The printmaking studio at the University I’m studying at, just purchased a new plotter that’ll print stunning prints 64” wide, however, when I was looking at it, I noticed they had a film in it rather than paper. When I asked, they said, they rarely print to paper, they print the film and then reshoot it to make prints…it creates a much nicer tactile image.
Between the pinhole camera and Bennett’s letterpress, it’s nice to see many of us are exploring alternative methods and processes, rather than just developing new digital styles…not that there is anything wrong with that. I just think, as Paul does, that ultimately when we get our physical hands on something, it can take a life not possible in virtuallity.
Posted on December 17, 2004
Bennett said:
I am on board with getting the human hand more involved in our work. This has been evident in my previous posts and the very subject of my next post.
I look forward to seeing Adrian’s end product as well.
Posted on December 17, 2004
Bennett Holzworth said:
It is funny that you are going back to the basics of photography while I am just getting on board with the digital end of it. I use a digital camera at work, but I have waited until now to get a personal digital camera. I just purchased a 5 megapixel digital camera with some nice manual settings and I am loving the convenience of it. The newness will probably wear off after some time and I will long for the feel and end result of my Pentax K1000. For now, my neck isn’t missing the weight of it.
Posted on December 18, 2004
Adrian said:
Thomas Hudson Reeve has simplified the design of the camera even beyond the pinhole camera. He folds photo paper into a box, adds a pinhole, and then takes a picture. He calls his cameras “papercams.” Here is a link to some very fascinating images made with the papercam:
http://www.papercams.com/gallery/photos.html
Posted on December 23, 2004
christy said:
So glad to see others out there that understand the usefulness of the digital but love the feeling and freedom of the manual. I get a lot of weird looks when I put down my Canon Rebel (not digital but far more advanced than the other) and take up my Pentax Spotmatic, fully manual and becoming an collector’s item. It’s teh weight of it, the feel of it, and the fact that I can control everything without looking at a digital readout.
And thanks for the picture of the papercam. I’ve been trying to figure out how it’s supposed to turn out but can never seem to get it just right…..that picture may help. Good luck with your pepsi can. What a great way to recycle.
Posted on March 12, 2005
Adrian said:
Christy, We just changed servers, and I think your comment got lost in the shuffle. Thanks for your patience, and good luck with your Pentax Spotmatic!
Posted on March 12, 2005
Bennett said:
I just noticed that Abelardo Morell will be having a show of his camera obscura photographs at The Art Institute of Chicago in June. The show is open from June 4 until September 11. If anyone is going a little early to the HOW Conference maybe you can take a field trip over to the Institute with Adrian and I. It will be nice to see some of his work first hand.
Posted on March 26, 2005
rg said:
As someone who who has regressed from a digital camera, to 35mm, to 4x5, to pinhole, I totally understand where you are coming from. A popular recent book, “photography’s new antiquarian avant-garde” shows there are many others. Morell is a great visionary, make sure you buy his books if you have not already done so.
Posted on July 19, 2005