Cardboard camera: pinhole photography gains popularity in Uzhgorod

Handmade camera. It is actually possible! A camera that can be made of rather simple and available things by everyone who is willing to do so.

Cardboard box, tin can, glue, scissors and film reel – that is all that is needed for handmade camera. But the most important component is patience. However, if you nave it the result can surpass all expectations.

Pinhole is quite a popular trend in photography in recent years especially in the CIS countries. Making their own cameras and photographing with them is now very popular among people in Ukraine and Russia. This kind of photography gained special recognition in St. Petersburg, where specialized pinhole exhibitions have been arranged and the web site dedicated to this activity has been developed. However, there are enthusiasts who began to popularize this trend in Uzhgorod.

So what actually is a "pinhole"? It is a camera without lenses and objective. The light reaches the film, hidden inside the box, passing through a tiny hole, pierced with a tip of the needle. No frills: only light, film, and a hole which provides their interaction.

Oleg Koval from Uzhgorod was inspired to make his own pinhole by the online video about St. Petersburg enthusiasts. "Besides the possibility of making camera with my own hands, pinhole appeals to me because of its simplicity: no lens – just film and light"

"Lately, it seems to me, photography has turned from some creative and even magical (as it was over a century ago) activity to ordinary business: wedding photography, mass printing. Pinhole allows to approach the process of picture creating with responsibility and with a feeling of inspiration. Here you will not see immediate results – you have to carefully choose what and how you want to photograph"- emphasizes Oleg Koval.

Mykhailo Panko, who now lives in Kyiv but comes from Zakapattya, also enjoys taking pictures on film. The young man has a slightly different view on the Pinhole photography. "Frankly, I’m not a fan of Pinhole in terms of outcome but admire design features of the cameras – that is that they can made of anything: beer cans, matches, wood and so on."