practice pinhole camera

Although we have finalised what we are doing for our main project, we fought it would be good to show all the prototypes and practices of the cameras we created. One I created was a film pinhole camera and to create this you would need:

• A Match box
• A ruler 
• A Stanley Knife
• A new Role of Film 35mm, any will do, but colour print film 100 or 200 comes out very well
• An Empty role of 35mm film, ( I went in to boots and asked as they usually just get rid of these, and they  gave me a few for free)
• some thin cardboard ( I just used the box the film came in )
• A empty drink can
• A needle or pin
• Scissors
• A sharp craft knife
• A black marker pen

For Further details on how to create this camera please feel free to comment and I will upload the instructions on how to create it :)

Exhibition Pinhole

After all the experiments with (small) pinholes we had, we decided to build a bigger one. To be honest, when compared with the previous ones, this one is huge :)
Think it is really good so, let's go outside and test it.

Justin Quinnell

 Justin Quinnell

http://pinholephotography.org/

http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/pinhole-photogr.php

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036200/Justin-Quinnell-creates-wacky-images-pinhole-camera-inside-mouth.html

PinHole Cameras

After working with cyanotypes I started to be interested with early photographic experiments what lead me to pinhole cameras.

Basically, a pinhole camera is a lens less camera that works as a Camera Obscura where you place a film or photographic paper to take a picture (so, it’s a camera without batteries and lens).

The good thing about it is that it’s so easy to do that any box you have at home can be transformed into one as long as it’s lightproof (not to expose the photographic paper on the wrong time).

You can read more on how it works both the Camera Obscura here and the Pinhole Camera here.

The negative of my first photo came out a bit out of focus due to the wind but, overall, I was very, very happy with it.  

After I got the negative it was time to flip the image horizontaly and to invert the colours. The result was this:

My very first Pinhole Photo.

Since this one, I already built 3 more cameras of different sizes and took more pictures with them that I intend to develop and post them here as soon as I can.

Isaac's Cyanotypes

After all the research we been doing I thought to have a go and do it myself to learn the how to.

I ordered the chemicals from SiverPrint, a digital scale from Argos, "borrowed" some gloves from my work and bought some watercolour paper and tape. Simple. The trickiest part was to mix the solution A to the solution B in equal parts without the proper material.

After the first experiment I learned that the exposure times need to be of about one hour to allow for a good detailed image (which means that my first try, that was of around 30 minutes, was too dark and not very detailed) although the intensity of the sun is also a variable that not always works depending on the time.

I have done a few more after with a much better result. So, here are the pics of my experiments :)

After achieving a good result I decided to use another technique to modify the colours of the print. This technique is called Tea Toning and was used to give the print a brownish colour instead of the usual blue.

I prepared a strong solution (?lol?) of about a litre of water with 8 to 10 tea bags (normal variety, cheap Tesco kind) and let the print absorve the tea for about 2 hours. Different papers absorve the tannin of the tea differently, so it's up to you to keep on checking the prints until you reach the desired tone.

How to make a cyanotype print

Cyanotype Prints

Cyanotype is a photographic printing method in which the end result is made in tones of blue.

For a better description of the process and history check here. The interest on this process comes from the fact that what gets printed is the light and all the shadows are kept white (or lighter tones of blue) and how easy it is to actually print something because you can just do photograms of objects placed on top of the light sensitive paper.

Walter Crump Pin Hole Photography

http://www.waltercrump.com/pg_anamorph_gel_silver.html

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (Floris Neususs)

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography. Floris Neususs / Photography / People / V&A Channel

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (Pierre Cordier)

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography. Pierre Cordier / Photography / People / V&A Channel

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (Susan Derges)

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography. Susan Derges / Photography / People / V&A Channel

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (Adam Fuss)

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography. Adam Fuss / Photography / People / V&A Channel

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (Garry Fabian Miller)

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography. Garry Fabian Miller / Exhibitions & Galleries / Exhibitions Archive / Happenings / V&A Channel

Kumi Yamashita

here is a video that shows how she creates her art pieces, ( I could only find the chinese version but there are english subtitles)

Kumi Yamashita

Kumi Yamashita is another artist I found extremely interesting, like all these shadow artists she spends her time switching lights on and off and rearranging objects on the floor and walls to create a specific shadow. Similar to a painter who attempts to portray an image with the least number of brushstrokes, Kumi Yamashita uses very slime fragile pieces of wood, square papaer or aluminum numbers and letters essembled in a specific way to create her final shadow outcome.

Fred Eerdekens

  Fred Eerdekens is a belgium artist, that creates breathtaking installations with the use of light and purposely placed objects  to reaveal these hidden texts. Fred Eerdekens hidden messages inside of his sculptures show us that something mysterious can be made once a light is shone on it. I personally find this artists work extemely fasinating as he is the way he uses a various amount of objects from plants to wire to cereal boxes to spell out words.What looks like a simple arrangement of objects takes on a whole new meaning once light hits it in just the right spot.

 

 

 

Tim Noble and Sue Webster

Tim Noble and Sue Webster take a number of items, ie rubbish and assemble them in a certain way so when the light is shone on these items, a shadow is projected which identifies something completely different. These shadows can show a great likeness to identifiable objects and self-portraits. This type of art is labelled Transformative art.  This process of transformative art, is made by the dicarded waste, scap metal or even taxidermy creatures to a recognizable image.

'the kiss of death'

'He diptych'

'The origional spinners'

'She diptych'

Shigeo Fukuda

Shigeo Fukuda was one of most important artists to play with the arrangement of objects to create images with shadows. He was doing sculptural objects since the mid 80's influencing the works of most shadow artists up until now. Working with forks, knives, spoons, paper clips and other materials, he managed to create a unique style of shadow sculpture. Enjoy the video.

Larry Kagan

this guy is just amazing. he bents and welds metal in crazy looking shapes that when lit from a certain angle create images not at all expected. go and check out is website and find a bit more about this american sculptur and the amazing art that he does.

The first post

Hi guys.
First of all let me introduce the team.
Isaac Branco, Chris Hackney, Amber Marsh and Keshia Jacobs.
We are first year students of Fine Arts at London Metropolitan University and we are interested in shadows and their role in life and, in a more particular way, the way shadows can be used as an art medium to express ourselves.

we will be posting in a regular basis from now on. So keep tuning in!