[May 31, 2005] Artist Steve Irvine combines pottery and pinhole photography in his work and shows us how to make a ceramic pinhole camera in the May/June issue of "Pottery Making Illustrated" magazine. The article, written by Steve, provides detailed instructions for potters, including a "matt black" glaze for the inside of the camera.

Steve notes in his article that "pinhole photography has some similarities to clay in that it is, by and large, an intuitive and experimental medium. But also like clay, it can be highly technical and precise, depending on your personal preferences."

Putting on my "reporter" hat, I contacted Steve with some additional questions about how pinhole photography fits in with his work in clay.

PV: How did you get interested in pinhole photography?

Steve: I've had a lifelong passion for both ceramics and photography, so it is natural that I would eventually combine them with a ceramic camera. I also do digital and 35 mm work photographing my pottery for publications and my website, plus astro photography, and I'm one of just a dozen or so photographers ever to capture an analemma on film, but in a way it is the pinhole photography that comes closest to my work in clay.

The parallel comes from the crucial stage of the creative process when the kiln is reaching maturing temperature, and also when the pinhole camera is gathering light for the image. In both cases the thing being created is in a box and out of my direct control. As a potter the box is my kiln and I have to visualize what is going on inside it to know when to end the firing. Since my pinhole cameras have no light meters or viewfinders I have to visualize the way the light is reacting with the negative to know when to end the exposure. The result of visualizing or imagining the process rather than controlling it completely means that I have surprises with the end results, and these surprises (or new information) feed back into the planning of the next works. The opportunity to let go of control in pinhole photography plays a major role in the creative process for me.

PV: Do you find that your ceramic cameras enhance, expand, or restrict
your pinhole photographs in any way?

Steve: The form possibilities with clay are limitless so there are some wonderful things that can be done with pinhole camera design. I like to make very organic looking cameras since this is such a contrast to our usual ideas about cameras being mechanical and precise. With a ceramic camera it is a fairly simple matter to make a curved negative holder so wide angle or distorted images are easy to achieve. The extra weight of camera are usually not a problem since I just put them in the car and take them to where I want to make the image, and set up much the same as any other pinhole camera. People are usually quite interested and delighted by the idea of a ceramic camera and it has often been the starting point of a good conversation about pinhole photography and alternate approaches to things.

PV: Any future ceramic/pinhole projects in the works?

Steve: I'm thinking of making some small scale ceramic cameras, little gems that I can keep in my pocket. There are lots of possibilities!

You can view one of Steve Irvine's ceramic pinhole cameras along with some of his other pottery pieces at the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ontario through June 26. He has a website at http://www.SteveIrvine.com and his pinhole pages are at http://SteveIrvine.com/pinhole/.