Castle Arcade, Cardiff.

Taken on Fuji Velvia with the Omniscope which is an anamorphic pinhole camera.  More details on this camera in a future post.

This photograph marks the beginning of a project on shopping, which after all is now the great national pastime.  Using pinholes in public places is interesting for several reasons:

because of the long exposures rapidly moving people don’t appear at all; those who linger for about half the exposure time can appear as ghosts; sometimes different parts of the same body can vary substantially in visibility….!

it creates curiosity in the passer-by.  Invariably the response is, “Pinhole camera…?  Oh, I remember, we did that in school…..it was great fun.”   Nobody (apart from security personnel, see below) appears intimidated by pinhole cameras, unlike conventional cameras where the response is all too often, “I hate having my picture taken.” 

it can create curiosity/suspicion in security personnel !  Especially with some odd-looking  cameras like the Omniscope.  It’s worth having a few examples of your work with you (postcards or images stored on your phone……something which gives credence to what you are doing.)

it is a great reason/excuse to sit down, order a coffee/beer, watch the world go by and make a few exposures !