About

Hello and welcome to my website. The work shown here reflects a fondness for designing and constructing unique pinhole cameras, and then using them to make images. Pinhole work is a fascinating, challenging and fun way to explore the photographic image-making process.

The cameras were created from a wide variety of items, most of them not traditionally associated with photography. Sources for parts include thrift stores, garage sales, hardware stores, found items and friends. Broken or discarded kitchen paraphernalia, lots of odd bits of hardware, mystery parts, tins and jar lids, parts from old broken cameras, etc., all found a place in these cameras.

Some of the parts used have stories, and came from people or places I have enjoyed. For example, there is a satisfying emotional element to using a camera that incorporates a tin that once held some great chocolate chip cookies, sent years ago by a close friend. Most of the cameras have emotional connections like that.

Making pinhole photographs is as much an adventure as making the cameras. A pinhole camera creates an image with an equal degree of sharpness throughout the subject. This can range from fairly sharp to more soft and dreamy, depending on several variables. Light leaks and other accidents are often celebrated and appreciated. Exposures are often long, which has its own range of possibilities.

Additionally, the film plane can be tilted, twisted and curled, with more or less predictable results. And pinhole construction formulas are available for those who enjoy a more scientific approach.

The negatives are made with either film (usually 120 T-Max) or black and white photo printing paper. After the film or paper is processed, it is scanned and worked on digitally in Lightroom and Photoshop. An Epson Photo Printer is used to print the finished image.

Thanks for stopping by my website. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or just to pass on info about your own work.

-Connie H.