process VI - pinhole photography
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Pinhole camera
Not pretty but effective! -
Interior of pinhole camera
The inside of the box was painted black to reduce reflected light, and masking tape used to fix the photographic paper to the back of the box opposite the pinhole. -
Pinhole
A hole was punctured in a small piece of aluminium from a drinks can, and a 'lens cap' or manual 'shutter release' made of electrical tape. -
Pinhole camera
Pinhole camera (covered by a black raincoat to ensure no extraneous light penetrating the camera body) taking a photo of three dandelion 'pappus disks'. (2' 20" exposure)
And cat. -
Pinhole paper negative
Negative taken with a pinhole camera. -
The Caffenol Developing Process
A developing solution was made from household ingredients: coffee, washing soda and vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid). Salt dissolved in water provided the photographic fixer.
This fixer removes undeveloped silver ions from the prints and is therefore considered unsuitable for disposal in the drainage system. By adding a piece of copper or steel wool to the waste fixer the silver is attracted to the metal and drawn out of the water.
A developing solution was made from household ingredients: coffee, washing soda and vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid). Salt dissolved in water provided the photographic fixer.
This fixer removes undeveloped silver ions from the prints and is therefore considered unsuitable for disposal in the drainage system. By adding a piece of copper or steel wool to the waste fixer the silver is attracted to the metal and drawn out of the water.
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Pinhole photograph
Photo taken with a pinhole camera.
Inverted and adjusted in Photoshop. -
Pinhole paper negative
The pinhole camera was loaded with a single sheet of 5" x 7" photographic paper and most of the photographs taken with the pinhole camera required exposure times of around two and a half minutes. Because of the long exposure even small movements were captured, giving an interesting sense of movement to some of the images.
This process created paper negatives. These could be transformed into positive images either using image manipulation software such as Photoshop, or by taking a contact print. This is created by taking an unexposed sheet of photographic paper and placing it face to face with the paper negative, a bright light is then shone on the back of the latter for a few seconds. The light penetrates the negative and exposes the new sheet which is then developed to create the positive image.
This process created paper negatives. These could be transformed into positive images either using image manipulation software such as Photoshop, or by taking a contact print. This is created by taking an unexposed sheet of photographic paper and placing it face to face with the paper negative, a bright light is then shone on the back of the latter for a few seconds. The light penetrates the negative and exposes the new sheet which is then developed to create the positive image.
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Pinhole paper negative
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Pinhole photograph
Photo taken with a pinhole camera.
Inverted and adjusted in Photoshop.
Alongside digital images and videos, photographs were also made using pinhole photography and the caffenol developing process. These were chosen as they used materials available in our lockdown home; photographic paper was purchased by mail order for the project.
The pinhole camera created paper negatives that were then digitally inverted to create positive images. A small number of 'contact prints' were also created using photographic paper and the original paper negatives.
The pinhole camera created paper negatives that were then digitally inverted to create positive images. A small number of 'contact prints' were also created using photographic paper and the original paper negatives.
The caffenol process is, in itself, somewhat ephemeral and prints seem to change colour and contrast with time. This adds an intriguing extra dimension and the prints created have a dreamlike quality which reflects the strangeness of the 2020 lockdown situation.
