This project further explores the pinhole process. Having been stuck in the house that I grew up in for the past two months, I attempt to bring the outside to the inside by turning a few rooms in my house into camera obscuras. Using a digital camera and long exposures, I made photographs to see how the outdoor landscape interacts with the objects and surfaces inside my home. This project has given me the chance to understand the pinhole process in a new way, to look at my home from a different perspective, and to think more deeply about quarantining at this time. I was inspired by the work of Abelardo Morell, who captures places all around the world using this camera obscura method.
The Process
I took photographs in four rooms of my house: my bedroom, the bathroom, the garage, and the guest bedroom that I have been using as a painting studio since coming home.
In each room, I covered the windows with black trash bags and black gaffer’s tape to completely block out any light. I then covered a small piece of card stock with the tape and cut out a circle about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter to make the pinhole. I cut out a small rectangle in the trash bag at about eye-level and taped the card stock in the rectangle. I also put tape around the door to make sure that no light was coming through the cracks.
To make the photographs, I used a DSLR camera and a tripod. The aperture ranged from f/3.5 to f/4, and the exposures were 20 to 30 seconds long.
The resulting images show the outside views superimposed on the walls, fixtures, and objects inside my home.
Photographs
