HOW TO USE YOUR VEHICLE AS A PINHOLE CAMERA
By Lulu Keating and Leslie Piercy
July 4, 2004
Preamble
On the weekend of July 2 - 4, 2004,

KIAC offered a Pinhole Camera Workshop and Awards, coinciding with the Odd Gallery exhibition of Donald Lawrence's, "The Underwater Pinhole Photography Project." Donald Lawrence and Mario Villeneuve were teachers. When Leslie said she was going camping, Mario suggested that she use her tent as a camera. That got her thinking...

Van as Camera

We decided to try to make a vehicle into a pinhole camera. This was inspired by the recent Artists-in-Residence, Donna and Yvette, who used their van as a projector. They screened a video on the interior rear wall and commented that the van could also be used as a camera.

A van cannot be used as a camera without a lot of effort. The idea was to seal the van, put a pinhole in one side and mount the light-sensitive paper on the other side, expose the paper for the pre-tested amount of time, and voila!

It is best to research materials with which to seal a van. It is best to make exposure tests and process them in a darkroom before driving the van to a remote location. We did no tests. We drove up the Dempster Highway to Tombstone. The view of Tombstone Mountain is emblematic of Yukon's majestic scenery.

It took an hour to cover the van with layers of garbage bags, cloth and tar paper. It took another hour to cover it with more layers of garbage bags, cloth and tar paper. (See Reflections on Opacity, below.) Then the wind came up. A roll of duct tape later, we were ready to shoot.

The wind had blown smoke from forest fires up the valley. Yukon's majestic scenery was not to be seen.

Mario, Mario, Where forth art thou Mario?

The next morning we covered the van at the campsite in Tombstone Park. We hurriedly left for the look-off to get some shots. All windows except for the windscreen were blacked out.

It was difficult driving, but we didn't hit the Parks Yukon vehicle as it entered the camp grounds.

With all the windows covered, it is possible to frame a shot. One person drives slowly, the other looks through the pinhole. It is tricky, especially at the edge of a bluff. We felt lucky to get a few shots.

When we returned to our campsite, the Parks people had confiscated all the food we'd left out. They had written us a note, "If I was a bear I'd love your campsite". They didn't buy the excuse that we couldn't take it with us because our van was a camera. They returned the food.

Reflections on OPACITY (and the lack thereof)

What light through yonder window breaks...

Heavy duty construction garbage bags are opaque. Don't split them up, flatten them out and paste them on your van, single thickness. If you do this you'll realize they are only opaque if used double thickness.

Heavy black cloth may appear opaque, until you have taped them all over the van. Best to check them out first, before you have to remove them and apply garbage bags (see above).

Tar paper can be opaque if doubled, or quadrupled, or double quadrupled, maybe.

Post Script: The tent didn't work at all.