Pinhole photography is a challenging but also exciting technique. It's been practiced for over 100 years and is pretty much what it sounds like. For a better look at this unconventional type of photography, Copytrack spoke to pinhole photographer Moni Smith:
Photography has been with you for quite a while. How did you come into contact with pinhole photography for the first time and what brought you to it?
About ten years ago a friend of mine posted some of his pinhole photos on Flickr and I was totally fascinated by them. The pictures had a very dreamy effect and immediately cast a spell on me. Until five years ago, however, I no longer thought about pinhole photography.
At that point, I switched from digital photography to the analog approach and made friends with many film photographers around the world whose blogs and social media channels I followed. A couple of them posted pinhole photos and I remembered the photos I saw ten years ago.
I wanted to learn more about the technique, so I took a class with Zeb Andrews , a well-known and very talented pinhole photographer here in Portland, Oregon. I've been obsessed with pinhole photography ever since.
Can you explain to us what pinhole photography is and what influence does the technology have on the result?
A pinhole camera is essentially a box with a hole in it. Some people may be familiar with pinhole viewers that are used during total solar eclipses. A pinhole camera works in exactly the same way. There is a pin-sized hole on one side of the box and something on the other side to capture the picture (film or photo paper).
The aperture plate has a very small opening. Most of my cameras have apertures that are around f / 135. To compensate for the small aperture, you have to plan for longer exposure times. There's a lot to play around with with this aspect, which is really fun. In broad daylight, you could record a scene that is over five seconds long, recording the movement of a crowd or the blurring of the branches of a tree when the wind blows through them.
It's really great to prepare a photo and not know exactly what will come out of it. Another really interesting thing about smaller apertures is that it creates a very deep depth of field so that everything within the image is extremely sharp.
What do you think are the greatest advantages of pinhole photography?
I love that the technique is very limiting. All you have to do is decide which film to use. But once the film is in the camera, you have to live with the decision. All the tinkering with the scene is eliminated, nothing should distract from the composition of the shot.
The only thing to worry about is the composition. I have the feeling that I can pay more attention to what I'm taking my photo of here. The severe limitation somehow makes me be more creative. Much like a poet is restricted to a certain format of his poems, like a sonnet or a haiku.
I also love that it brings me down. The necessary exposure times in the places I like to take photos (especially in the forest) can be quite long - but I enjoy the waiting time!
Do you have a favorite motif?
I love to photograph crowds. It's just fun to capture the blur that comes with people moving around. I also love taking photos in the forest because this is where I spend most of my free time.
Where do you see the greatest challenges in pinhole photography?
I think the biggest challenge is having to work with film. This can be a challenge when you are used to instant gratification. There are also some costs involved: the film must be purchased and developed; if you develop yourself at home, you have to plan a lot of time. Learning how to do all of these things is challenging - but it's worth it!
Pinhole photography is also a very different way of taking photos than digital photography, and the result is very different. You have to learn to give up some control over the whole process. The results are not always what you expect. That can also be a big challenge.
What advice would you give to someone considering taking a closer look at pinhole photography?
To get started, I would recommend a camera with medium format film. Here the resolution is higher than with 35mm film, which leads to nicer results. This will help you at the beginning, because as already mentioned, pinhole camera photography cannot be compared with digital photography. The results will seem strange to you at first because they are completely different from what we are used to.
If you start right away with a 35mm camera, the image quality will not be that good, which will make the image appear even stranger and possibly frustrate you.
The same goes for digital technology. It is possible to take pinhole camera images with a digital camera using a lens cap. I wouldn't recommend that, however, as the quality of the images here is mostly horrific. As soon as you have the camera and are ready, just shoot and have fun! Don't have high expectations, enjoy the process and the unexpected results.
Would you like to tell us what you are currently working on?
I am currently setting up a project in which a pinhole camera will go around the world: The big international Terrapin exchange. My friend Todd Schlemmer owns a 3D printer and printed a pinhole camera for our project.
The camera first goes to a person who will take a whole roll of film and then rewind it to the first frame. Then that person forwards the camera to the next person, who then exposes the roll twice. Then that person shoots a reel, rewinds it, and sends it to another person. The results will be published on the project website.
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