[May 21, 2006] The following is a brief interview with Robert Johnson regarding "The Great Picture" project. The Great Picture project is part of a larger, on-going project to document the closed El Toro Marine Corp Air Station. Project members include photographers Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain,  Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh, and Clayton Spada.

PV: How did the idea originate to turn a hangar at El Toro Air Station into a pinhole camera?
 
RJ: One of our group members (Clayton Spada) has been working/teaching in China. As part of some of the student's projects there, they were experimenting with making large (roughly 8'X12') pinhole images. At one of our Legacy Project meetings we were joking around about turning one of the buildings at the El Toro base into a camera obscura and we suddenly thought "Why not? Let's do it?". That is how it began.

PV: How did this particular group of artist form to work together on this project?

RJ: We have known each other for a long time and most of us had worked with at least two others in the group before. Four of us teach Cypress College. I am the Photography Department Chair there and Jerry Burchfield is the Gallery Director. Clayton Spada and Mark Chamberlain are adjunct instructors.

PV: Please comment on the technical aspects of turning the hangar into a camera obscura:

RJ: Turning the building into a camera is really not that difficult. Since it is a former airplane hanger, there is a huge unobstructed open space inside. The hardest part is figuring out how to hoist our media into place and keep it motionless during what we think will be an exposure of several days. We have an expert at doing large rigging projects that will be directing that phase of the project. There is also the problem of making the building light tight. It will take an unbelievable amount of black plastic and we may be using exterminators tenting material.

PV: How will the room be made light-tight?  What will be the view or scene from the pinhole?

RJ: The scene will be the tarmac, runway, and the flight control tower with the hills of Irvine in the background.

PV: What is the distance from the pinhole to the negative?
 
RJ: Seventy-one feet

PV: What is the pinhole size?
 
RJ: We do not know yet. Probably somewhere between 1/4 inch and two inches. We will be testing that within the next 10 to 12 days.

PV: What film or paper will be used for the negative?
 
RJ: We will be using Liquid Light on a piece of fabric roughly 32' X 120'.
 
PV: Were there any other technical considerations or obstacles to work through?
 
RJ: The biggest problem will be the processing which needs to be done off site. We have not completely got that one figured out yet. We have a couple of options at this point and are interested in ideas.

This project is being sponsored by The Great Park Corporation, Freestyle Sales,
and Photomation. Without their help this would not be possible.
 
Related articles:
World's Largest Camera to Create World's Largest Photo
PDN: A Hangar, A Pinhole And A World Record: Building The World's Biggest Camera

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