AA2A Portrait Project
- Bryan Lewis
- Jan 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 29
Too often photographers become embroiled in equipement and technicalities so why not revert to basics.
Pinhole Portraiture Project
Project Overview -
The camera obscura is ancient, with a history dating back to Aristotle.
Arabian physicist and mathematician Ibn al-Haitham gave a description of the device in the 10th century although Giambattista della Porta is said to have perfected the pinhole camera, which he called an optic chamber, in the 16th century.
Seems simple enough!
As the 'pinhole camera' history goes back many hundreds of years so why not combine this camera methodology with an alternative printing process.
I am therefore experimenting with the 'Cyanotype' process discovered in 1842 by Sir John Herschel.
Perhaps using the Cyanotype process for the final prints would add an additional integrity to the project.
Pinhole cameras have a very low sensitivity; equalling very long exposures when using film.
Added to this is the issue of Recprosity Failure with film, which makes for even longer exposures.
Why not go digital; this allows high sensitivity levels and feedback on the camera screen.
With a little modification I can adapt a modern digital camera to produce pinhole images.
Still no viewfinder with long exposures and rather basic.
The combination of a modern digital 'pinhole camera' to make the portraits together with an 1842 process for the final prints creates an interesting dichotomy.
Using a 5x4" large format film Pinhole Camera will be an additional point of interest.
Basics of the pinhole camera -
The pinhole camera principle is a basic box with a 'pinhole' to allow the passage of light (photons) which travel in a straight line and project an image onto the opposite side, no lens, no shutter.
Used by many artists thtough the years they can be an aide to perspective and composition.
My intention is to produce a series of 'Pinhole Camera' portraits; sounds simple but there are complications!
For the analogue side of this project I have designed and constructed a 5x4'' pinhole camera from scraps of MDF.
The digital option consists of modifying my Nikon D7000 digital camera, essentially converting it to a 'pinhole camera' by the addition of an extension ring plus body cap. The 'pinhole' made using a drill and some aluminium foil.
Using a digital camera allows me to increase sensitivity (ISO) and also view the image on the back of the camera instantly.
There is no functioning viewfinder.
This gives me a starting point for the project with the aim of creating pleasing portraits by combining a historical pinhole camera function with modern digital technology.
Creating photographic prints via the Caynotype process discovered in 1842.
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