Hand Held Camera Obscuras

I attended a workshop with artist Michael Fairfox at Rosliston Forestery Centre today, where I was given the opportunity to create hand held camera obscuras! I was interested in learning about the use of lenses with camera obscuras and also the possibility of using a camera obscura inside, as this is something I would like to do for my degree show, and so far I have been unable to gain good results.

Michael Fairfox was extremely interesting and engaged well with all participants. It came about that he started his art practice with camera obscuras after the eclipse a few years ago, I think maybe 2001? It is since then that camera obscura really grabbed his attention and he has worked with many possibilities of creating them. He is currently working on a project to create a public camera obscura at the forestry centre where the workshop was held. This is something he has said I can become involved with, as they will do a weeks workshop where volunteers can help in the creation of the camera obscura!

Michael displayed an array of his own camera obscuras which we could look at to understand the principal of camera obscuras and hand held camera obscuras. The delicate and organic designs of his camera obscuras work well with the projection of an upside down world onto the surface of the screen.  In the workshop we were to create hand held camera obscuras from a log which had been provided, but essentially they can be made from anything. All that is needed is a lense and a screen in which the image can be projected onto, which is made from opaque tracing paper. To create a focussed image it is important that you get the focal length accurate, this being the distance between the lense and the screen. If the focal length is slightly out then the image will appear distorted.

My Hand Held Camera Obscura

I decided I wanted to create a camera obscura which would have multiple view points, I chose to have three different view points at varying points down the log I chose to use. These would all be slightly different and would allow me to experiment with the possibilities of how to create a hand held camera obscura.

As I wanted three different view points it was decided that I would first drill the three holes into the log, these holes had to be about the size of the lenses I was using, but could not be too large otherwise the lense would fall out of the hole.  Once the holes were drilled I decided to cut the log into three sections, this meant I would be able to have three separate parts which could be held together with dowels and be able to move.  All three camera obscuras had the same lense, but I found different ways in which to attach the screen each time.  I think the most successful is the screen which appears to be inside the log, as it is more secure and gives a better detailed image, due to the one placed over the front has a slight curve to it and distorts the image slightly.  To place the screen inside the log I first had the split the log (if you are having to split a log it is better to have drilled the hole first so that measurements are exact.) and then glue the screen in place.  Once this was secure I nailed the front back onto the camera obscura.

Due to the use of lenses you are able to create good quality images in most light conditions, although results are improved when the lense is facing an area of bright light and the screen is in a darker area.  This darkness means the image can be seen more clearly. However, discovering this technique has given me options for my degree show and will allow me to create a camera obscura which my audience can interactive with.