The ancient technique of pinhole photography will be revived in a new exhibition at the University gallery, University of Essex. Pinhole cameras, unlike conventional cameras, operate as a lensless camera where light is projected through a tiny hole onto photographic paper inside the camera. Any object can be utilised as long as it is coloured black inside and is completely light-tight. The smaller the pinhole the more precise the images and the larger the pinhole the softer the image.
Exposure times can vary from a few seconds to several hours, depending on the light and conditions.
The six students curating the exhibition, Eleni Ganiti, Ann Hayhoe, Veslemoy Hollekim, Pennie McDowell, Katarina Mullerova and Heidi Smith, explained that what makes the medium so exciting is its potential to create different visual effects and its ability to capture multiple images within different exposure times. In an age of technology pinhole questions the origins of modern photography. The exhibition forms a central part of the students study and is the first photography exhibition curated by students at the University. One of the main features of the exhibition will be Tony Willett's large walk-in camera obscura situated outside the gallery. This will provide an interactive element to the exhibition allowing visitors to experience how light can produce an image through a tiny hole.