A pinhole lensless camera is a light-tight box with a very fine round hole in one end and film or photographic paper in the other. Light passes through the hole; an image is formed in the camera.
The image-forming ability of a tiny hole is thought to have been known thousands of years ago by nomadic tribes of North Africa, who lived in animal skin tents. A pinhole in the tent would project an image of the brilliant scene outside. There is over 5000 years of pinhole history!
Pinhole cameras have infinite depth of field. Everything from the closest object to the most distant object is in the same relative focus; objects at a far distance will be less sharp due to particles in the atmosphere. A pinhole reproduces a scene just as the eye sees it. While there is no focus for different planes in pinhole photography, there is a relation of pinhole to film that gives the maximum definition and it is this combination of softness with strength that gives to the pinhole photograph its essential character.
The Ipswich Artist Run Initiative is holding an exhibition in early 2025 on “Lost Trades” and I’m contributing with images created by a DIY pinhole camera (well… hopefully), and I thought I might right about the process here.
The first decision I made was to use 8×10″ direct positive paper. That means I’d be shooting directly onto paper which cut out the need for film and scanners and as a digital photographer, I LOVE the idea of an original, one off photograph. The paper and chemicals were the only thing I decided to buy for this project, I wanted to create everything else from things I already had around the house.
There is a tonne of information out there on how to make a pinhole camera and youtube was certainly my friend when it came to the design, you’ll quickly figure out who speaks your language!
After a bit of to and froing on Mr Pinhole, I decided my initial design of a 65mm focal length was too shallow to project on to an 8×10 piece of paper, so I expanded the box to 140mm. It will be interesting to see because a channel I follow on youtube suggested an 80mm depth and the image seemed to fill an 8×10 page without issue. I’m really not going to know until I get to take Gomez (I’ve decided to name him!) for a spin. Hopefully, the paper delivery arrives soon – I procrastinated for too long and Christmas Eve wasn’t an ideal time to order!
I’m turning my spare bedroom into a darkroom for the project and I have a list of 10 places I’ll be photographing here in Ipswich.
Seems like everything is in place to actually create some photographs and I am so excited to get out there! Can’t wait to share the next part.
Until next time,
