On first viewing this certainly has the look of a pinhole photograph. It shows the circular vignetting effect, which demonstrates the limit of the dispersal of light as it enters the camera and falls on the focal plane. This would normally indicate that a pinhole camera of an extreme wide angle design (a very short focal length) has been used. However, the characteristics of this particular image appear to contradict that assumption. Not only does the focal length appear to be approximately normal, i.e. as the eye might have perceived the scene, but the woman with the parasol is remarkably distinct (sharp) showing no trace of any movement. I suggest that this would have been so difficult to achieve using the long exposures that would have been necessary and the slow photographic emulsions available in the late 19th century. In addition, the men in the background, who are sheltering from the sun, are in a somewhat 'softer focus'. This again is not a characteristic of pinhole, which presents everything, from close-up to infinity, as relatively sharp throughout.
All this does not detract from the image itself, which is very striking and is keeping me thinking about the poetic elegance of a handheld camera disguised as a parasol!
Having said all that (my previous comment) and on looking at it more carefully, I'm inclined to think that it might well be a pinhole photograph after all. Also, how could I have not noticed that the background figures are mostly women?...
The e-space lab project is exploring how internet connections between people in diverse urban and international contexts can enable a dialogue that helps make more meaningful a reciprocal representation of what the conditions of actual everyday life in different places really are. Many of the ideas, illusions and misrepresentations that shape our understanding of where and how other people live in places different from our own can fall away in this kind of dialogue, and also be replaced by a live and ongoing pattern of multiple alternative representations. The forms that we use range from the human voice (by Skype or phone), text, text messages, and images produced by digital cameras and mobile phones, video of course, and even to web pages and podcasts. We like to engage with these forms in a process of dialogue and exchange, using whatever resources are available, and exploring the potential of new tools as they come on stream, especially streaming video. As artists we are especially interested in the role the arts play in valuing practices and the human qualities that shape everyday life in the different places we find ourselves.
2 comments:
shAw
What a great photograph!
On first viewing this certainly has the look of a pinhole photograph. It shows the circular vignetting effect, which demonstrates the limit of the dispersal of light as it enters the camera and falls on the focal plane. This would normally indicate that a pinhole camera of an extreme wide angle design (a very short focal length) has been used. However, the characteristics of this particular image appear to contradict that assumption. Not only does the focal length appear to be approximately normal, i.e. as the eye might have perceived the scene, but the woman with the parasol is remarkably distinct (sharp) showing no trace of any movement. I suggest that this would have been so difficult to achieve using the long exposures that would have been necessary and the slow photographic emulsions available in the late 19th century. In addition, the men in the background, who are sheltering from the sun, are in a somewhat 'softer focus'. This again is not a characteristic of pinhole, which presents everything, from close-up to infinity, as relatively sharp throughout.
All this does not detract from the image itself, which is very striking and is keeping me thinking about the poetic elegance of a handheld camera disguised as a parasol!
Having said all that (my previous comment) and on looking at it more carefully, I'm inclined to think that it might well be a pinhole photograph after all. Also, how could I have not noticed that the background figures are mostly women?...
Sean
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