Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2019

Annual pinhole photography event. 

All photographs created with a 3D printed camera, on April 28, 2019.

All photos by Laura Cofrin, except the first, which was shot by Gavin Brent.

Ilford FP4+, and Kodak Ektar (expired) films.

Pinhole is a concept

Why pinhole? I am often asked that question. Why would I choose a photographic method that only adds time, difficulty, and complication to my art practice?
'Why' indeed. It is exactly this forced slowing down that I embrace. It is the purposeful placement of these technological hurdles that allows me to focus in on the craft itself, the image created is secondary to the process. The experimental nature of the method negates any control over the resultant image. The pinhole is the perfect analogy of my chosen path, one which is narrow, and not easily traversed. A rare experience captured in print that deserves longer contemplation.
Calling my self a photographer, or more specifically, a pinhole photographer is too limiting. I may better describe myself as a conceptual artist.
As I am updating the resume, I realize I am having trouble living up to the self appointed label of Pinhole Photographer. Yes, I make pinhole photographs, but I also have an interest in conceptual works. Sometime this involves performance art, certain documented actions, or elaborate installations in which the viewer experiences the photographs and/or videos. I am always experimenting, trying to discover new ways to utilize the camera, exploring alternatives to normal shooting and showing.

Sage and Sky

Sage and Sky, pinhole photograph by Laura Brent, 2013

Summer is a time for traveling, and long road trips are the perfect opportunity for uninterrupted thoughts. The southwest is the perfect location for these wanderings, with its brilliant light and expansive air. I feel refreshed and energized having recently returned from those magic desert places. The ideas, mulled over with the miles, have incubated and are ready to come forth through new works.

Road Trip, pinhole photograph by Laura Brent, 2013

 The journey is long, an unending path. The quest - for beauty - in the eye, the mind, and the heart.

American Beauty, pinhole photograph by Laura Brent, 2013

 "To calculate on the unforeseen is perhaps exactly the paradoxical operation that life most requires of us."
"...one does not get lost but loses oneself, with the implication that it is a conscious choice, a chosen surrender, a psychic state achievable through geography"
          - Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost

Tommy Knocker Trail, pinhole photograph by Laura Brent, 2013

Why wander? Will the destination offer up a respite? What discovery will come from an aimless ambling? Looking for the happy happenstance, the quirky coincidence, the surprise prize. What spirits are leading the way? How well do you know them? If you are aware, you can almost see them. And remember, at the end, we all become the dirt of the roads, forever left in the rear-view mirror of life. I plan on leaving something behind.

Transfer of spaces, objects, ideas,

Laura Brent, untitled photo-gram,2011

A time of change brings with it a great opportunity to move in a new direction, and with a stronger intent. The work that will come from this transition will be interesting to see, I am excited to witness its unfolding. The new location adds the ability to work without distraction or intrusion. The security that comes from this will bring an adventurous spirit to the creative work. The timing of this beginning, its happening in company with my audience during the studio tour, will forge a deeper connection with the work. My dedication to 'getting it right' is bolstered in these actions.

With these ideas I forge ahead into the next big event, the Fort Collins Lincoln Center annual Studio Tour. I participated in the tour many years ago, when it was organized by the art museum, and it was not a great experience for me. It was not a particularly high point of my career. I was still learning. This year, already, has been a great experience. Partnering with Jennifer Davey has kept my spirits up, and we encourage and challenge each other to make it an enriching event for our audience. We are offering a special chance for collectors to forge a deeper connection with artists, an opportunity to witness the creative processes. We want to draw the viewer into our experiences. We will each offer something for the visitor to do, a chance to be an artist with us, and create something unique to themselves.
The studio tour is June 22 and 23, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm each day.
The exhibition featuring one work from every participating artist, opens June 14th with a reception from 5-7 pm at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center Gallery. The exhibition continues through June 29th. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 10-6 and Saturdays 12-6. There will be extended gallery hours during the tour, June 22 and June 23, 10-6.

New Pinhole Project

Laura Brent; pinhole photograph, silver gelatin contact print

I have started a new pinhole project, re-visiting an old series I shot back in 2008, "Toyland", combining it now with the pinhole camera. Using vintage toys, dollhouses, and handmade dioramas, I create small stages, positioning my 'models', evoking a possibly frightening narrative. The imagery is a bit reminiscent of film noir, and the viewer must look closely to determine what they are seeing. The objects pictured are easily confused with reality. The small size of the camera allows me to obtain a vantage point unlike any from the previous project. Often I am shooting blind, placing the camera into the scene, at a location that I am unable to witness with my own eye. The project will debut at Valhall Arts February 1, 2013. Stay tuned for more details.

New site for my pinhole photographs

Sunrise Over Hernandez, Laura Brent

As a way to streamline the viewing of my pinhole photographs, I have created a new website.
Visit laurabrent.org to see them in all their glory.  Please take a look and let me know what you think.

ArtHouse Sketchbook Project Process, Part 2

After much thought and trepidation, I finally began...


I started by unbinding the book, the two small staples tossed into the trash with a freeing gesture of joy at finally getting started, the loose eight pages suddenly feel less intimidating, and I am excited for their journey toward their final completed identities.


I planned to used a liquid photo-emulsion to print photographs directly onto the page, and much thought was spent addressing the layout of the book. I needed to establish where the photographs would be, where the emulsion would need to be placed, which pages were reserved for drawings, etc. The liquid emulsion I used was called "Ag-Plus High Speed Emulsion", and heating was required to liquify it before painting. I set up the painting station in my dark room, with a hot water bath for the emulsion, and progressed to apply the emulsion onto several pages from the sketchbook. The painted pages were left to dry in the dark, and once several layers of the emulsion were applied, the prepped pages were stored in a light tight bag, or loaded into a pinhole camera to await exposure.


The pinhole process was less than satisfactory. I always say, if one feels like a pro', "hot-shot" photographer, just shoot some pinholes to restore one's humility; the process is unpredictable, and results are often unexpected. My issue with the process was that the combination of the pinhole camera making a soft focused image with the soft print quality of the liquid emulsion, created images that were just too blurry to be distinguishable.

I also had issues with the chemistry of the emulsion, getting strange results due to the way the emulsion was pulled between the two leafs. I needed to repeat my processes many times, using a heavier weight paper, and painting the emulsion and exposing the two pages together, yet drying and processing the two pages separately.

Shooting photographs with the theme in mind, (Long Road Trips and Short Phone Calls) I also made prints using the traditional enlarger. Having discovered some vintage negatives, I included images of my paternal grandmother. This image was one of the first successes with the medium.


I continued prepping pages, and shooting photographs, and experimenting with the photo-emulsion and all the ways I could make marks. I used a camera-less procedure, creating photograms with the film and other objects. I was painting and drawing with more traditional mediums when not using the photographic modes, and always thinking of alternative ideas for the project. I would draw over processed photographic images, cutting, and collaging the pages and images together, weaving a visual tapestry.



Eventually, I amassed a pile of completed pages, some successes, some failures, but together they were layered and interwoven with the various techniques I'd used. The messy group felt very disheveled and unorganized, and I was unsure of my feelings about what I'd created, but I was committed to finishing the project. (After meeting Shane, from Art House, in Denver at the Million Little Pictures; Photo-Mobile exhibition, I was shocked to learn that the majority of entries are never returned!!??)



I had four sections, or gatherings, of the individual pages, each containing four leafs. I included one extra section made up of only one photograph, a pinhole image printed on resin coated photo paper. The strange quality of this middle page, seemed to bring the chaos of the other pages together, and being an actual photograph, it is a signature of sorts, a nod to the camera, the machine, I use in my art making. In the end, I included many of the 'failures', as a testament to my process, and really, a sketchbook is a place to experiment, and I wanted to show all the images I had created.

The following post will explain the binding process.

Last Chance to see "Blurry Pictures"

Image credit:
Laura Brent, Doors.
Silver gelatin double pinhole photograph, Santa Fe NM, 2011.
Positive contact print.

Due to the snowy weather on February 3rd, the closing reception of the pinhole photography exhibition Blurry Pictures was cancelled. Due to this event, I have extended the show for a few more weeks. Call or email me to schedule a time to view the exhibit. laura@valhallarts.com

Blurry Pictures and other Works

Pinhole Photography by Laura Brent

Opening Dec 02, 2011 | 6:00PM - 9:00PM
Valhall Arts, 201 S. College Avenue, Plaza Level 2, 
Fort Collins, CO 80524

Valhall Arts is pleased to present Blurry Pictures and other Works, an exhibition showcasing the recent works by Laura Brent. Over the last year, Ms. Brent has been making pinhole images with a variety of methods, including using film, handmade cameras and multiple pinholes. This will be the first time these images have been shown together.

Why Pinhole?

I have always been interested in photography’s historical processes and classical foundations. There must be an understanding of where an art form began, how it has evolved over time, to carry it forward into the future. By playfully exploring the processes, using all the possibilities, one gains an understanding of the medium. The practice is “limitless, inexhaustible, without stepping outside the natural boundaries of the medium”(Paul Strand, “The Art Motive in Photography”, 1923, pg. 287) and only through experimentally creating imagery, can photography reach its fullest potential.

Pinhole photography is a rudimentary process, slow and meticulous, something that takes perseverance, patience, and practice to perfect. The materials involved are basic, the methods very ‘hands-on’, with the sense of getting ones fingers wet with the photons of light. The experimental successes are an epiphany, moments filled with great joy, full of surprise at what the photograph looks like, intriguing imagery that is pulled from the elements of a particular time and space to leave its mark and energies on the final unique object created.

~Laura Brent

Visit the website to learn more, valhallarts.com