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.

A New Hat

Rene Magritte - A Pilgrim - 1966

Being an emerging artist in these contemporary times means one has to tap into many different skill sets to run one's business. There is the creative maker side, who makes the work, finds and taps into the inspiration. There is the analytical archivist who catalogues and organizes the work. There is the curator who, well, curates the work, considers the presentation, and directs the audience. The list goes on, marketing, website management, logistics, etc.  To do it all is a momentous feat, as each job requires a different skill set not often found in the same individual. To transition between these roles in my working arts practice, I envision myself donning virtual caps, to delineate the particular job at hand. There are also the other personal 'hats' in life, each with their own demands, taking time and energy away from the creative making part of an artist's life.

Well, I have a new 'hat' -- Teacher. I just finished my first teaching job. I was doing a community outreach project through the local junior college at a private arts focused school, teaching pinhole photography to some local middle schoolers. The experience was terrifying, energizing and fun. Being a huge history buff, and wanting my students to understand the historical precedents, I started the class out with "The History of Photography in less than 15 Minutes",  showing Photography's evolution from Mo Ti's observations in 400 BC, through the 1800's chemical discoveries with Daguerre and experimentation by Henry Peach Robinson, continuing through the early 20th century with Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams, onto the Bauhaus, and finally showcasing a few contemporary photographers.  This was a lot of information in a very short time, missing entire epochs, and important figures, but this severe edit was necessary. I had to make it just short enough to keep these adolescents engaged through the entire narrative. They were a bit overwhelmed after our first hour together, but the fires had been lit. That spark was evident in their eyes after experiencing being inside the camera, in a camera obscura I'd built in the schools copy room.

The students went on to make their own cameras, spent several hours in the darkroom, creating lots of great pinhole photographs and experimented with placing objects directly on the photo-paper, creating photograms. After selecting their best images, the class concluded with an exhibition at  a local arts center.

To share my love of the craft with creative young souls was expansive. It was energizing to my own creative practice, and I think they taught me as much as I hopefully taught them. It's a new hat I am proud to wear.

Man Ray - Photogram - 1941

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.

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

"After Niepce"

This image was created by Laura Brent, using color film and a pinhole in a body cap on a Nikon FE2. The imagery is evocative of Joseph Nicephore's (Niepce) 1826 "View from the Window at Le Gras", the first photograph ever made. It is held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, in Austin.

In this day and age of digital cameras, and high-tech methods of gathering and printing photographs, Brent enjoys getting her fingers wet with the photons, experimenting with the pinhole medium. The image was captured in Santa Fe, NM, and the film was developed in Durango, CO at Pennington Photo, a camera store that has been in operation since 1906, and plans to close at the end of April. This work is in homage to the historic makers and methods, and a gesture that these vintage processes are still a valid art form.

Contemporary Explorations of Vintage Photography

The new exhibit planned for February will feature images made using vintage styles and modes. In anticipation of the new dark room at Valhall Arts, photographs made with pinhole cameras, photograms and 'cliche verre' images will be exhibited. I am opening the exhibit to other local artists who would like to participate and are working with these historic techniques. See the call on Craigs List

Visit the website for more details.

Photogram image, The Circus, by Laura Brent

Back to School

It's that time of year again, the alarm wakes us up, a good breakfast to start the day, then off to catch the bus. Studying, Homework and the like, ahhhh, learning.....
The image was created with a pinhole camera, the original image on the left, the inverted image on the right.

National Pinhole Day

After much delay, I have finally scanned and uploaded the images taken on National Pinhole Camera day, which was April 25, 2010. The image was made using a hat box, with three pinholes, and three separate sheets of Ilford photo paper. The photo negatives were scanned and inverted. You can see all the images at www.pinholeday.org, over 3400 images, from all over the world.