Pinhole Photography

 

This is a pinhole photograph taken by Mark Tweedie. Instantly, you can see that it is a landscape photograph along a beach. The camera is angled slightly down onto the wet sand, yet the sky enters the composition at the top. Two pairs of feet are present in the foreground of the photograph, however, these are faded and see through. Tweedie would have stood infront of the camera for a certain amount of time, and then moved to a different position, creating a double exposure effect. Subjectively, this photograph seems quite eery and supernatural due to the distorted effect that is created by the double exposure. The vignette around the edge of the photograph also adds to the supernatural effect. Subjectively, the double exposure can represent a certain presence within the photograph, a presence that does not seem to be in reality and has a dreamlike representation. The two sets of legs could also represent the journey to which Tweedie travelled on that particular day. The deserted beach in the background, sets the mood of a wet and rainy day. The legs that are placed in the composition create a personal element to the photograph, one of which will link to Tweedie personally. 

This is a photograph taken by the photographer Nancy. A. Breslin. She takes photographs using pinhole photography of people. This series of photographs were taken of different people and places regarding food and tea. This photograph shows a tea set in the foreground, which are focus. In the background, you can see two figures which are out of focus. The camera has been placed slightly above the table, yet looking up to the subjects. The photograph as a whole portrays a professional everyday image due to the square format. Subjectively, the blurred subjects, of an older generation, suggests a snapshot in their lives. It could essentially represent 'life passing us by' due to the movement created by the exposure. As you can't distinguish the faces of the subjects, it creates a sense of ambiguity of who these people are and their background. I feel that this style of photography, links well with documentary photography, as Breslin is documenting different scenarios to do with eating and drinking including the older generation

Chris Keeney- He is from San Diego, Southern California. He is a pinhole photographer and has a passion for and interest in pinhole camera photography. He likes to use film and photographic paper to create one of a kind fine art photos and enjoys the happy accidents in the process. In his gallery, the photographs are all taken with a pinhole camera. He uses PinHolga, Zero Image, MexiCanon, Cigarbox pinhole, Lavazza espresso coffee can, oatmeal container, matchbox pinhole, SPAMera, mintycam and many more as the mechanism for his pinhole.

 Keeney’s work is very experimental. He has used different techniques using pinhole photography and areas that surround pinhole photography. The use of film is also very interesting. The different elements merging together to which I assume is ‘accidental’ is something that I find interesting. You can distinguish a hand as the basic outline which has been pushed down onto the surface. It has been mixed with other elements in and between the outline of the hand, for example, what looks like a religious symbol of a woman is faded into one side of the palm, this is creating a very busy composition. I find this complexity of not instantly knowing what it is intriguing. There seems to be a mix of black tones in unusual places within the hand which again can be created accidentally. Personally, I feel intrigued by the mixture of subjects within this composition. Subjectively, the hand as the base of the composition is representative of the person. The different elements within the hand would then present different detail which represents the importance to the person whose hand it is. To me, is it a description of someone in photograph form.

Here are my attempts at Pinhole photography. I used a beer can with a hole pierced through. We loaded up our paper in the dark room and then proceeded outside to experiment. Due to time constrictions, we didn't complete any testers, therefore we went straight out and estimated the amount of seconds to expose. Both times I exposed them for 5 seconds, however this is not accurate. The top attempt was of the field, with the can sitting in the grass pointing slightly upwards. This did not come out as I had hoped, yet you can distinguish basic lines of what was in front of it. The bottom attempt I was much more pleased with, as you can clearly tell that the subject of the building is there and the detail is more present. I found pinhole photography difficult, however it becomes difficult in a way you want to keep experimenting with exposure and scenery so that you can improve further.