Sunday 7 July 2013

Making pinhole cameras at Art Vilnius '13.

Last week I attended a massive art fair, Art Vilnius'13. I was so excited because I've never been to such events. I just had to go, especially after I found out that there is going to be a pinhole workshop!

I've always wanted to try pinhole photography, I've looked up all kinds of tutorials, but they were all way too difficult to make, and I didn't have the materials, so I never got around to it. For those who don't know what it is - pinhole photography is where you have a box, any box, doesn't even have to be a box it can be a tin and you have a pin hole in it. The box has to be sealed off from all light, the only light that should enter the box is from the pinhole. Then you place some light-sensitive paper in the box, or film, and open it to light for a period of time, depending on the amount of light on the scene.

A pinhole camera made out of 
So I arrived at 11:30. The workshop was run by students from the Vilnius Academy of Arts who probably weren't used to working as teachers, it was quiet funny and cool. They were really friendly and made you feel welcome. They had a developing lab there, with the developer, and fixer baths. We sat down to learn how to make pinhole cameras.

I used a metal coffee tin, it was great because I didn't have to cover it up with anything else, it was light proof. What I did was make a bigger hole with a big needle first because the metal was too thick to make a small pin hole. Then I sanded down the rough metal edges on the inside to make it smooth. For the pinhole, we used thinner metal, from a coke can. I used a simple pin to make the hole. You have to be really careful not to make it too big. Even the thickness of the actual pin is too big, so don't push it all the way through. Once again sand down the rough metal edge on the piece of thin metal. Then I just stuck it to the inside of the tin. You may want to paint the inside of your container black, that way the light won't bounce around inside as much. I made 3 pinhole cameras that day, one from a metal cube tin, another from a carton box, but this tin one was the most successful. All you have to do then is place some photo sensitive paper on the inside, you may need to fasten it so it doesn't move around.
Inside of the tin, with photo paper in place

Practice makes perfect.
You have to experiment with different times to get the right exposure, outside - 30 seconds might be enough, inside - 30 minutes. It depends on many things. When I was done exposing, I went into the lab where there was total darkness except for a red light, just like in the movies. I placed the paper into the developer first, the image then appeared on the surface. After that, I dipped it in the fixer, which stopped the reaction with light. After that you wash it in water to remove the chemicals. That day we were developing black-white negatives only.

I was running to and from the building, taking photos and experimenting. I was exhausted and with a headache. I was there till 18:00. I must have looked pretty weird running around all day with boxes and tins, sellotaping them to different surfaces. My exposures inside took especially long, but it was so exciting to see if it worked. All the other participants were so enthusiastic, and all the photos were hung up on the wall. It was so fun to see children and adults make their own cameras and get involved.

The original photos are negatives, these are scanned and made into positives in Photoshop.

Looking down onto the galleries. 40 minute exposure

I forgot to cover the hole in the camera and realised too late, accidental photo

Litexpo building. 10 second exposure

Litexpo building 2. 15 second exposure

These are just some of the photos I made that day. Art Vilnius '13 was a great way to spend the day, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who can visit next year!

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