Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2020

Fostoria, OH, WPPD 2016.

Tomorrow, April 26, is the last Sunday in April, also known as Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD).  There seem to be a lot of photo events on the calendar -- 'Roid Week, Toy Camera Day, Argust Day, World Photography Day, etc.  However, WPPD is a lot more organized, as it has a web site devoted to the day. I have participated off and on over the years, and this year, I definitely will be making some pinhole photos.  Unfortunately, the pinhole community lost Eric Renner, who died on April 9.  You may not know his name, but his book - "Pinhole Photography - Rediscovering a Historic Technique" (Focal Press) is an amazing book, and great resource for anyone wanting to know more about pinhole and zone plate photography.  He started pioneering work with pinhole cameras in the 1970s, and from the Freestyle Photo page -

"Mr. Eric Renner is the founder and co-director of Pinhole Resource, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing information about pinhole photography. He is also founder and co-editor of Pinhole Journal, published three times a year, and gives educational lectures and workshops internationally. Renner has worked in pinhole photography for 32 years. Some of his recent work in assemblages are made in collaboration with his wife Nancy Spencer. His photographs are exhibited in major collections throughout the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the California Museum of Photography, the National Gallery of Canada, and Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, France. Renner is the author of "Pinhole Photography: Rediscovering a Historic Technique"

That short summary only tells a part of the story. Mr. Renner's work  is in many museums and collections, and his pioneering work with pinhole photography wasn't just about the mechanics and technique, it was also because he could tell a story with his photographs. I know that the first time anyone uses a pinhole camera, that person is truly amazed to get an image from something so primitive and non-technological as an oatmeal box with a tiny hole.  To take it to the next level - actually making an interesting photo and not that the photo is interesting because it was taken using a pinhole is a great achievement.  To be fair, the same argument can be made for a lot of photography.  Do you like a certain photo solely because of the process used to make it, or it it because of the intrinsic qualities of the image?  Most of us like a certain image because of what we see in it, how it affects us, or that we relate to it in some way.  The mechanical process of normal photography used to make the photo is far less interesting.  The thought process leading to the making of the image, however, is often of interest to us.  With pinhole photography, there is not only the making of the image, there is the making of the camera in a way that affects the image, so the entire process from the camera design to the final image is part of the thought process. 

I will say that pinhole photography, because of its mechanical attributes - long exposures, great depth of field, never fully sharp, but detailed images, and the odd effects that are a result of making almost any dark container a camera, can lead us to make photographs that are unlike any other process.  In that pinhole reality, people can accomplish amazing works that transcend time and physical constraints of the normal camera with a lens.  Eric Renner took pinhole photography from the status of a clever classroom exercise to an artistic photographic genre that is still relevant and exciting.  In Renner's book you'll see the work of a number of photographers, and I think that it can inspire others to try something new.  Yes, pinhole photography can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it, and it can show a "reality" that is not done with any other process. 

Pinhole photography may be the perfect medium for this COVID-19 mess that we are in. Social distancing, shuttered stores and restaurants, closed off parks and natural areas, and those stay-at-home suggestions could result in some creative spark that a pinhole camera image is the perfect for. 

Good luck tomorrow, and may your pinhole images be memorable!

I'll be using my Hamm Camera Pinbox camera - a cardboard camera that uses 120 roll film.  So, I'm hoping for no rain. 

Here's an image from my first roll from the Pinbox, using Ultrafine's Extreme 100 film.

WPPD 2017 in Ann Arbor

The Ondu pinhole cameras - Kat's 6x6, and my 6x9

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day was held on April 30, and this year a bunch of us got together in Ann Arbor instead of some other location.  Given the weather, we made a good choice.  Last year we met in Fostoria, OH, which turned out great. This year, it was a gloomy, cold, and then rainy day. Despite that, I felt we made the best of it, as we met on the University of Michigan campus. There is no lack of possibilities using pinhole cameras there.   I used my ONDU 6x9 pinhole camera for the first time, and realized that partway through the first roll, I had loaded the film on the wrong side, as the film spool should be loaded on the right side, not the traditional left side.  Therefore, the frame numbers will be proper for 8 6x9 images. Duh.  I should have realized that by looking at the arrows on the top of the camera.  With that out of the way, everything worked fine and I feel I got some good images.  Tim and Kat were also there, and always have been stalwart pinhole day attendees.

Since it was graduation weekend, we saw quite a few UM grads there, especially around the Carl Milles fountain.  From there, we went over to Nickels arcade, and then over to Regents Plaza.  I have always wanted to photograph the cube while it was rotating, and the pinhole camera surprised me with the result.

From there, we went over to the UM Law Quadrangle and got some shots in, at least until it started to sprinkle.
After that, we headed home!

The rotating cube.

and.. now for the pinhole result.

Inside Nickels Arcade 

Carl Milles fountain. About a 20 second exposure.

one last video...

World Wide Pinhole Photography Day

WWPPD has become quite a big thing. Each year, hundreds (thousands?) of photographers shoot pinhole cameras on the last Sunday of April. Each person uploads a single image to the WWPPD web site, and it is a blast to see what other folks have been shooting.  This year, I had plans to spend a good chunk of the day doing pinhole shots.  However, the weather turned out to be overcast and drizzly all day.  Not the best weather for doing any kind of shooting, unless you are under an umbrella.  However, I was determined to shoot something besides an indoor still-life.  I loaded up my Polaroid pinhole camera -- it uses pack film, and is a former Tektronix oscilliscope camera.  I think I made it about 8 years ago, and removed the front part of the camera and replaced it with a new front and a pinhole.  Simple.  I am on the third pinhole iteration, and the current size is about right.   The film I used this time around is the Fuji 3000B - the 3000 ISO black and white film.  For a day like today, it was at the edge of the usable range, being that my exposures were between 2 and 3 seconds.  I could not have used it in full sun.  Certainly a good choice for indoor pinholery, though.

I managed to do some test shots outside the house to gauge my exposure, and then headed over to Parker Mill, hoping for some images of the flowing water at Fleming Creek.  Between the time I did the test shots and got on the road, it had started raining as a fine mist.  I soldiered on, hoping for the best.  Fleming Creek was actually flowing quite well, and the small island I often shoot from was surrouned by the creek.  I was able to hop over the overflow, and set up on the island.  The ground beneath the trees had been scoured by the high water of the previous week, and looked pretty interesting.  I was able to finish off the pack of film, but with the rain, my prints got wet, and though I had them in a box, some emulsion still got scraped while being jostled on the way back to the car.  So, if you shoot in the rain with pack film, carry a dry box to keep the prints in.    Here are a few shots from the day.

Pinholery in the Irish Hills

On Sunday, April 26, the entire world celebrated World Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD). Well, at least the small world of photographers using pinhole cameras did. Our world is sometimes a bit fuzzy, but everything is in focus, and we expect events to happen at a slow pace.

Mike Myers and I went down to the Irish Hills along US-12, in search of some suitable WPPD subjects, and found some decrepit places to shoot, such as the Irish Hills Fun Center as shown above. Formerly a place where one could race go-karts, play mini golf, and take a dip in a pool, it now looks abandoned. The one place I really wanted to see has all sorts of life-size dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals on the grounds, but it is ringed with "no trespassing" signs. Better to stay out and avoid a visit from the local police.

We finally ended up at McCourtie Park in Somerset. This place was built by a former concrete baron, who, in the 1930s, had artisans from Mexico construct a series of small concrete bridges across a meandering stream. You might think it wouldn't be interesting, but each bridge is different, and they fool your eye -- looking like rustic wood brdges, a rope bridge, and so on. What looks like bark with beetle holes is just concrete. You expect the rope bridge to sway, but of course, it's not really rope, it's concrete. Fun to visit, and quite photogenic.