Pinhole Photography
What is pinhole photography? In short, it is basically photography in the most simple and pure form. Cameras are usually handmade and images are usually always a complete surprise. In this particular field of photography, a camera can be made from any type of light-tight box or container (I favor the 42oz oatmeal containers for the slight distortion it creates but I also like to use a large bucket because I am able to produce larger images by using 11 x 14 inch paper negatives). The lens of the camera is created by a tiny pinhole. The size of the hole indicates how long the exposure will be (the bigger the hole, the shorter the exposure time) and how sharp the image will ultimately be. The smaller the hole, the more in focus your photo will be. Trial and error plays a big part in pinhole photography because you never know what exactly the camera is going to capture and how the image will come out. I have taken some images that have only been exposed for several minutes, where other images have taken up to 15 minutes to expose (I remember having to sit perfectly still for almost 20 minutes as I shot some of my self-portraits… that was very difficult to do).

I absolutely love shooting pinhole. It is my favorite avenue of photography. It is just so rewarding building your own camera from scratch, figuring out the exposure time and then developing your image. It is just such an honest approach to photography. I have recently started to shoot pinhole digitally using a SLR fitted with a pinhole body-cap. I like the quickness of shooting digitally but I miss the purity of using homemade cameras.

I was first introduced to pinhole, back in high school by my dad. I had never heard of this form of photography before and was completely fascinated by the idea that you could create a camera at home that actually worked! I ended up using the pinhole concept in my science project that year, and am proud to say that I won first place out of the whole high school! I was a science fair nerd, I lived to created science projects… it was my favorite time of year! And I just didn’t do anything for my projects (alot of time and thought went in to my choosing a topic). I would go all out (from the report to the actual presentation board). What can I say? I was in it to win it (and I won every year I partook… see, I was a science fair nerd!). My pinhole science project was the first time I ever created a camera from scratch. I made three or four different sized cameras and did an in-depth comparison as to the probable variables that would affect the said outcome for each. From that moment on, I was hooked on pinhole. I still have those little cameras I made!


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