Photography
Pinhole photography
Large format photography
Panoramic photography
Fine art IR, UV, X-Ray
Gallery: Landscapes
History of photography
Classic cameras
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of photography
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On digitality,
language
and society
(In Norwegian)

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About this web site
The author

Contact
gjon@online.no

Pinhole photography is lensless photography. A tiny hole replaces the lens. Light passes through the hole; an image is formed in the camera.
    Pinhole cameras are small or large, improvised or designed with great care. Cameras have been made of sea shells; many have been made of oatmeal boxes, coke cans or cookie containers; at least one has been made of a discarded refrigerator. Cameras have been cast in plaster like a face mask, constructed from beautiful hardwoods, built of metal with bellows and a range of multiple pinholes. Station wagons have been used as pinhole cameras – and rooms in large buildings. Basically a pinhole camera is a box, with a tiny hole at one end and film or photographic paper at the other. [View article >>]

Designing and Building a Large Format Camera

My book Building a Large Format Camera is an 85 page manual with instructions and plans for building a 4 x 5 inch monorail camera with friction focusing. The book has 30 step-by-step drawings, 23 sketches and 11 photographs, a wealth of references to relevant literature and numerous useful addresses in the US and Europe. Most drawings are to scale and may be scaled up for an 8 x 10 inch camera. The book is available by order direct from me. [Details >>]

Lanced in Light – Visible and Invisible
Infrared, Ultraviolet and X-Ray Photography

We are lanced in light; and we move through light, shadows and darkness.
Visible light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation, and X-rays produce different kinds of fine art photography.
[Images and articles >>]

The phrase Lanced in Light was suggested to me by Larry Rubin's collection of poems with the same title (1967). In 1966–67 Larry Rubin was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Bergen, Norway, where I studied languages and literature.

Stones – Pinhole Prints 2007

Stones are the theme of my new pinhole images. The pictures were made in 1992 and have recently been scanned. I used Ilford Multigrade III RC Deluxe (7 x 9½ in) for the negatives and contact printed on the same kind of paper.
[View images >>]

Rome – Pinhole Images

Rome is one of my favorite cities in Europe. In May 2007 I spent five days there only doing pinhole photography. I have selected 17 of the photographs for my web pages.
[View images >>]

Prague – Fresco Pinhole Images

In August 2007 I visited Prague. During six intense days I took a number of pinhole photographs. A few of them I have used as material for fresco images.
[View images >>]

Multimedia Pinhole Postcards

Electronic pinhole postcards reconcile old and new technology. Theories of pinhole-derived images are found in the ancient writings of Aristotle, Chinese philosopher Mo Ti, and Arabian mathematician Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen). Later, artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Canaletto, Dürer and Vermeer used camera obscuras as drawing aids. From the 1850s pinhole cameras have been used for photography.

My electronic postcards (script by Sue Braiden):

• The Tomorrow Fund, Rhode Island (English)
• Salem County, New Jersey (English)
• Norte City, Argentina (Spanish)

Pinhole stamps

My personal postage stamps with pinhole pictures from Rome and Prague (The Tiber, The Forum, The Golden Well). The Prague pinhole picture has been run through the fresco filter in Photoshop.

Last updated 22 April 2009