Kathy K Pinhole Photography | July 4th

Pinhole photography is writing with light at its most basic. All that is required to make an image is a light tight container like a box or an empty space (a camera obscura) and a small hole that lets light in. To record that image, some sort of light sensitive material is put into the camera, and the light coming through the pinhole creates an impression of the subject the camera is looking at.

We can make pinhole cameras with everything from a cardboard box to washing machines, beer cans, and even our own bodies. Using containers and objects that have had a previous use simplifies the process even further, adds another creative dimension, and is also a more sustainable alternative to using a conventional camera.

The workshop will cover the basic principles of pinhole cameras, and how to develop photographic paper. You will build your own pinhole camera and then we’ll go out and make some exposures and develop the paper negatives. Each participant should be able to create 2 or 3 images during the workshop, and will go home with the skills to continue taking pinhole photos.

Kathy Kinakin (she/her)
Spoken Languages: English 

Kathy Kinakin works mainly with pre 1900s historic photographic processes, as well as researching and experimenting with sustainable practices in analogue photography. She uses a variety of camera formats including handmade pinhole cameras, box cameras from the 1930s and large format 8x10 antique view cameras. In her work, she produces unique handmade images that document landscapes altered and encroached on by human intervention. Along with the images, the process of taking the photographs becomes a path to navigating and coming to terms with the relationship between humans and nature. 

She has curated exhibitions in Vancouver and Toronto and has shown her work in galleries in Vancouver and Italy. She holds an MA in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, Toronto, and a BFA in photography from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver. She is currently a sessional instructor at Emily Carr University, and teaches workshops on analogue and historic photographic processes.