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| Pin Hole Negatives, J.W & Katrina Rane Smith |
Initially, J. & I had planned to use this assignment to tackle self-portraiture, selfies, and cell phone
culture with high school students. As a result, I decided to make
small, hand-held cameras that would be decorated the way that students decorate their cell phones. In the end we altered our plan and turned towards the exploration of Architectural photography and the elements of line and shape; however, were able to use the small cameras nonetheless. I made my 2 cameras from Tetley Tea canisters with snug fitting
lids. The
Tea canisters seemed like a good solution to the pinhole camera for a few
reasons: the tight fitting lid, the metal bottom, and the hand held size (because
of this we actually skipped the tape flap and used our fingers as the shutter). Because the hole was in the bottom of the
canister rather than in the side, the paper stayed in place much better and did
not create the distorted edges that occur when the paper is inserted into the
cylinder sideways. The fact that they provided a circular canvas, which
strongly contrasted the straight lines of the architectural features we ended
up photographing, was also a benefit.
We
shot over 30 more-or-less successful photographs focusing on the
intersections of pipes, duct work and lighting in the ceiling of the
photography lab, as well as the Montreal architecture right outside the
windows! Using
the university environment was not only logical in terms of how we had designed
our lesson, since students would be taking photographs of their school
environment, but also allowed us to use our time efficiently by being close to
the darkroom.
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| Pin Hole Positives, shot 2, J.W. & Katrina Rane Smith |
Although many of the
photographs feature similar features we chose the three final prints because of
a) their quality as photographs including better contrast and sharper lines, and b)
their use of the elements of design and composition to create visual interest as
stressed by our lesson plan (line, shape, movement, contrast etc.).
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| Pin Hole Positives, shot 1, J.W. & Katrina Rane Smith |
Overall, it was an interesting process to go through. J & I agreed that because of all the variables which can be discussed during the process
of using pinhole cameras, this type of activity lends itself well to collaboration, and we agree
that if we were to use this project with our students we would maintain the
collaborative approach. That being said, we do feel that partnerships are more
functional than larger groups. As
partners we were able to really share in all aspects of the process, whereas
groups of 3+ seemed to use a divide and conquer approach.
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| Pin Hole Positives, shot 3, J.W. & Katrina Rane Smith |
Our
main concerns if we were to tackle this with our students would be addressing
the amount of variables, time constraints, and access to a dark room or chemicals within the high school setting. Using a Light Meter Ap for calculating starting exposures, and Pre-making/ pre-testing the cameras could save time, while using a scanner instead of a darkroom could alleviate the darkroom/chemical issues, although we feel that these modifications could take all
the magic out of the process and result in students, who already value digital over analog, being less engaged with the activity.
