Pinhole Camera and Photographers

Purpose:

• To understand what pinhole photography is;

• To learn about the process used to create pinhole photography

Ann Hamilton

Nancy Breslin

Ann Hamilton's style of pinhole photography immediately caught my attention. The framing in her “face to face” pinhole photography collection is very abstract since it’s from a perspective I’ve never thought about. In this collection, Hamilton made the subject or landscape become the pupil of someone’s eye created by one's mouth. This replicates seeing a small reflection of yourself in the reflection of another person’s pupil. The pinhole photographs taken by Nancy Breslin are also some of my favorites. Most of the subjects’ faces are the only thing that appear to be obviously blurred. This is a unique concept that I didn't know was possible with pinhole photography.

With Ann Hamilton's pinhole photography, I find the tone of the photos haunting in a memorable way. It's interesting how the photos look like a shot from a horror movie, especially because of the black and white blurriness. In Nancy Breslin's photographs, I find it interesting how she took photographs in public areas and captured scenes of day-to-day life with one twist: the subjects are blurred. I find the fact that the faces are the only thing affected in these calming atmospheres makes it more mysterious.