A Transparent Handmade Camera

THE CAMERA

During this thematic project I decided to build a transparent camera.

When I think about a camera I think about a dark room, light proofing, protecting the film. I guess I aimed at building a paradox of photography. I want to see inside the camera while I'm using it. The final photographs are of course important, but I'm open to any result.

The medium and its process is what I shifted my focus on.

This camera is made of red acrylic plates.

The structure is the one suggested by Mathijs van Oosterhoudt in his workshop where usually students build wooden cameras.

The shutter is made of wood but it's temporary as I'm working on a faster, smoother and more transparent one.

TEST 1 - Results using colour film

This camera is meant to be used with orthochromatic film (not sensitive to red light). However for a first test I decided to use regular colour film (120mm) and see where it would take me.

The negatives look completely black, but once I scanned them I realised that there are some colours and shapes.

The second test will be with orthochromatic film and with the new shutter.

The artist Anton Orlov also made a transparent camera: Clera