8Y08 Introduction

     Welcome to my 8Y08 blog! Here I will be discussing my intentions and progress for the Genius Hour project I will be working on for the coming weeks. But a little background before I start...

     My father was a photographer back in the heyday of photographic film and when he passed away I inherited several nice, but dated, cameras. I didn't think much of the cameras at the time---film was out and digital was in---and they sat in a suitcase neglected for a long time. I'm not sure what compelled me to finally pick them up, but soon I was out trying to buy film and realizing that most people thought it was as passe as I had. I eventually found some, and after a few failed attempts at using the cameras, I got them working again. And suddenly a new issue arose..

     Where can one even get film developed anymore? There weren't many places, and the few that were still around charged through the nose, so I turned to my background in chemistry to help me out. Soon I had a makeshift darkroom in the spare bathroom in the basement. The toilet was broken, so no one objected when I moved in, and maybe they were even happy to see me keeping busy. Even if it was in a bathroom...

     I fumbled my way through learning about film for years, and then found community on twitter. At this point my interest really bloomed and I found so many helpful people and talented artists. But even all these years later, I still knew very little about the technical aspects of photography. Sure, I could use a camera. I could even develop film. But it was like cooking with a  recipe---I would be lost without the detailed instructions.

     So for Genius Hour I want to tackle some of the more technical side of photography. I want to know how a camera works, what film is, and how this all came about. My plan for Genius Hour is therefore to build a simple pinhole camera.

     A pinhole camera is one of the simplest optical devices. It is based on the camera obscura, going back centuries, and requires no lens. By building a pinhole camera I will need to learn more about optics (What is focal length? What role does the pinhole play?), film (What is film speed? How does film work?), and camera design in general. I will get to explore my love of chemistry, photography, and even a little bit of woodworking.

     I love the idea of a pinhole camera because I think it is a project a student could do. Pinhole cameras can be made from the simplest materials, even cardboard boxes or coffee tins, and could be an integrated project tackling science, math, and art.

     Follow along as I explore this idea further!