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| Pinhole image of part of The Higgins' buildings |
The redevelopment of The Higgins has created some fabulous new gallery spaces, one of which will be used for exhibitions of work by local people and is provisionally called the Community Gallery. When we reopen in Spring 2013, the first exhibition in this gallery will be a group show called
Sense of Place, curated by artists Alex Julyan and Lucy Wilson. Ten local community organisations are currently preparing work in a range of media including lace, rushwork, sculpture, furniture making, embroidery, watercolour, spoken word and film.
One of the techniques we have been exploring for the exhibition with a group of residents from Wixams is pinhole photography. With financial support from Gallagher Homes, we have held a couple of hands on workshops to try this method of very basic photography and have had some interesting results. We are still looking for more people to get involved so if you live or work in Wixams and would like to give it a go, give me a call on 01234 276363, email laura.pottinger@bedford.gov.uk or speak to BPHA Community Development Officer Linda Whitfield on 07545936347.
Pinhole photographs are taken with a 'camera' made from a box or biscuit tin that has been painted black inside. A tiny hole is made using a sewing needle in a piece of metal cut from a drinks can and this is taped over a larger hole in the tin. A negative image is then created by exposing a sheet of photographic paper inside the tin to light entering through the tiny hole for one or two minutes. There are lots of sites on the internet that give you full instructions on how to do this - see below for links. The benefits of this method of 'lensless' photography include infinite depth of field (i.e. both the foreground and background are in focus), atmospheric images, wide angle shots and the opportunity to experiment with more than one hole to create multiple exposures. We plan to hold some open pinhole workshops when we reopen so anyone can come and have a try. Here are a few of our experiments so far.
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| Jana's negative - taken outside Wilstead village hall with a Foxes biscuit tin |
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To save time in the darkroom, technology is then used to scan and reverse the image to create a positive.
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Paul used a vintage Quality Street tin to capture this multiple image.
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Laura's experiments from Bedford Park and Priory Country Park |
Pinhole links.........
http://www.f295.org/main/forumdisplay.php?11-Black/White-Pinhole-Photographs&s=57d281c39231a387b5269e2f3f865968
