“And this Building I believe to be the first that was ever known to have drawn its own picture”-William Henry Fox Talbot – Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing 1839
As a photographer and artist, I am deeply inspired by the mechanics and physics of the camera. With its justified popularity and widespread availability I have observed the world become complacent with photography. These days, a camera is almost more accessible than a pencil, and with a smartphone I can share an image with the world in seconds. While all of this on its own is remarkable, I have found myself longing to share and reignite the camera’s basic functions and the sense of wonder felt when one experiences its simplicity and grand amazement.
In a Camera was a participatory installation meant to provide a context to viewers which reawakens a sense of awe for the camera. Few have witnessed the camera in its raw and original form: as a camera obscura. A camera obscura is a dark room with a lens on one wall that projects an image of the outside world upside down and backwards on the opposite wall. Every time I’ve observed this phenomenon, I’ve experienced that unmistakable feeling of awe as I witnessed the vivacity and precision of the real-time projection.
The installation of In a Camera was set in the parking lot outside my studio building. During our annual open studios event, I invited people inside a seven foot by seven foot camera obscura. The camera was focused on a sculpture installed upside down on the side of the building. To add historical context and to celebrate the history of the American Fabrics building this sculpture depicted a seven foot hoop with the AFA logo (American Fabrics Artists) embroidered backwards. When viewers approached the building they saw the huge upside down and backwards embroidered hoop. When they entered the Camera obscura they saw the hoop in its correct orientation and the rest of the world upside down. While in the camera obscura I invited viewers to take photographs with their phones and post their images on the American Fabrics facebook page. I wanted viewers to celebrate the camera in its rawest form with its most contemporary form. You can view images of their experience below, or online here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152812467606955.1073741829.161218001954&type=3
and here:
https://www.facebook.com/The-American-Fabrics-Building-161218001954/photos_stream?tab=photos
