Ptarmigan is now closed.

In this workshop, participants will build a pinhole camera out of a matchbox and use it to take photographs.  The photographs will be exhibited in the monthly variety show Gherkin Frenzy Youth Passport, happening the following evening (29 October).

The workshop is led by Daniel Allen, who descibes it: 

The point of the camera for me is it's unashamedly low-fi and very much fits in with that aesthetic. The fact that there's no viewfinder, for example, means that people are forced to look at the scene and identify what interests them, and to be inventive about photographing it, rather than immediately getting their camera to tell them what they see. So the matchbox camera strips people of some common props and forces them to re-evaluate photography a little. It reintroduces an element of serendipity and reinstates some kind of artistic investigation ...

I will guide the group through making the camera to ensure people get reasonably close to what is required for photographs, although the process is a little random and depends to some extent on participants' craft skills. The good thing is that each camera is an individual work of, if not art, then at least craft. Each person's camera is their own and the results, whatever they are, are enhanced by this. The resulting cameras shoot one roll of film and then basically have to be destroyed (to get the film out). The film is then developed at a 1 hour place. The negatives can then be scanned or digitally photographed so that the images can be manipulated on computer. Viewing as a slide show is the most effective way to present the photographs to everyone in the workshop.

The workshop will last approximately five hours depending on how much time is spent photographing. Places in the workshop are limited to 10 and there will be a 6€ fee for materials, so please register here.