Check out Francesco Capponi‘s latest homebrew madness, a curved-plane top hat pinhole camera. You can see pictures of, and photographs made with, the Abracadabra in this set on Flickr.
Capponi has also made pinhole cameras out of a pine nut, a birdhouse, origami, and a tree. Nice hacking!
Related: Weird pinhole camera roundup here on Photon Detector, Thomas Hudson Reeve’s origami/paper pinhole cameras
[Flyer image removed from Flickr]
If you’re unable to see the show in person, check out this preview online. You can see more of his work at his web site, MikePeters.com, and here on Flickr.
My wife and I were trying to take a picture of both of us together in a sort of co-MySpace fashion: I held the camera out in front of us and she pressed the button. It took a few tries before we got what we wanted, and when we did, we both credited me with it. Which, upon further reflection, really surprises me.
I’ve always considered the photographer or author of a picture the person who pressed the shutter button to make it. Sure, the line can blur a bit with commercial photography or motion pictures, where the final image is the result of large-scale collaboration between art directors, set designers, models, makeup artists, wardrobe consultants, grips, etc., but I don’t shoot like that, so it’s always been fairly clear-cut for me.
It seems that when you get down to actually making the exposure, there are two decisions to be made: where to put the camera, and when to press the button. There are certainly other decisions—lens, film, focus, shutter speed, aperture, etc.—but most or all of those have already been made, or are made for you by automation, before the button is pressed. (We had already selected a Polaroid SLR 680, which has a fixed lens, only takes one kind of film, is auto exposure-only, and we chose to use the auto focus.) Granted, the messed up shots before the keeper were messed up because I aimed the camera badly, not because she hit the shutter at the wrong time, but it seems strange that we both considered it "my" photograph instead of "ours", when we were each responsible for half of the decision-making.
"g." on Polanoid figured out how to make his own Polaroid Chocolate/Sepia peel-apart film! Apparently you need a B&W positive and a color negative… check out these instructions and example shot, very cool!
PolaPremium just released three new, monochromatic, type 100 (3.25 × 4.25 inch / 8.5 × 10.8 cm) peel-apart/pack films. This thread on Flickr says:
These three films were produced by Polaroid employees in the factory in Mexico shortly before the factory was closed forever. Even the packaging was designed by Polaroid employees, making these brand new films 100% Polaroid products, through and through.
100 Chocolate, ISO 80, is apparently the same film as the renowned/smaller/extremely expensive type 80 film of the same name. Run of 30,000 packs that expires October 2009.
100 Blue is ISO 80 and appears to be a full color film, but with a heavy blue cast that looks a lot like expired 669. Run of 15,000 packs that expires April 2009.
100 Sepia is ISO 1500. To me, it’s the most interesting-looking of the films, but at such a weird ISO, it’s probably going to take some fiddling with the exposure compensation dial on most full-frame type 100 cameras, unless you’re lucky enough to have a 180, 190, or 195. Run of 30,000 packs that expires October 2009.
All three cost $16 USD per pack of 10 exposures and are available from the PolaPremium film shop.
Therese Brown just release a new book, Polaroid Kitchen:
Like a warm, comforting visit, Polaroid Kitchen offers up visual treats and brief anecdotes that celebrate the everyday wonders of food and home. Captured through the unique media of Polaroid cameras and film, these photos provide an intimate glimpse of both the necessity and delights of food.
Having both seen her photos and eaten her food (which is excellent), I expect the book is going to be good! It costs $17.95 – $31.95 USD (depending on binding) and is available immediately through Blurb.
You can see more of Brown’s work at her web site, This Is What I See, and here on Flickr.
Toshihiro Oshima says:
@espai[b] galeria d’art contemporani in Barcelona/Spain
[100X100PHOTO] starting on December 4!
I’m proud to have 2 of my photos to be selected on this show.The concept of this show is to present 100 photos from 100 photographers, and each photos will be sold for 100 copies/45 euros per each.