Little did I know when on an impulse I offered John Martin the loan of my homemade (not by me) 5×4 pinhole camera that this would be the genesis of a collaboration with photographers from around the country joining in.
What if we send it round the world and make a ‘zine? Round the world may be a bit ambitious but certainly round the UK is doable.
The whisky talking?
I was sat in a cafe with a pot of tea on 16th June 2021 when John messaged me via Twitter. He’d been chatting to James, another photographer, about the camera he’d been lent. James was keen to try it out and John knew I’d be more than happy. After a few whiskys though they came up with the idea of a world tour for the camera and perhaps also a ‘zine. Thus was born this collaborative project.
The camera itself was the result of an impulse buy I made from a charity shop; I figured that even if I didn’t use the camera regularly I was still doing some good for the charity. So, you could say that this whole project was founded on impulses.
Next week the camera moves on, down to the south coast if I recall, and the recipient is I believe a complete newcomer to both pinhole and large format photography. One of the things John and I are keen on doing is encouraging people who’ve never used large format before and to this end John is lending three DDSs to the project – which will be going south fully loaded!
The camera has a 50mm field of view, a 0.2mm pinhole and an effective f-stop of f250. To put that in context, a scene that meters at 1/30th second at f16 becomes an exposure of eight seconds BEFORE taking into account the reciprocity failure of the film stock. So, if you are using Fomapan 100, which is my go-to for 5×4 pinhole, this 8 second exposure becomes 56 seconds once reciprocity is factored in. If, like me you also routinely use a contrast filter for black and white photography (a yellow/green in my case), then this becomes seven and a half minutes!
The project already has five participants in addition to John and myself and we’ve only been kicking the idea around for ten days or so. Hopefully, as more images are shared with the #DPCWT2021 tag then more people will want to get involved. Watch this space!
Dave's Place 
I should add Dave that I gave it a go on impulse as well. I never really had a desire to before , but seeing your images and the way the camera “flares” was enough for me to say YES! when you offered it and I am very grateful that you did. I Hope all the photographers to come have as much fun with it as I did.I have learned a lot for sure and have 12 holders filled with film and my 5×4 ready to go…….and awaiting a certain “Walnut and Ash” Pinhole camera to be delivered. I have to say though I really hope I get to use yours again one day. It is remarkable ! I am off to post it on now and calling in at the charity shops en-route …just in case ! John
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