Pinhole Photographs

Exhibition Sponsor: Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals

"Pinhole Photographs" by 33 young photographers

İstanbul Modern Art Museum’s "Pinhole Photographs" exhibition features works by 33 young photographers who use the "pinhole" technique based on the 2500-year-old Camera Obscura principle. Sponsored by Mustafa Nevzat İlaç Sanayii A.Ş and curated by Engin Özendes, the exhibition is comprised of 67 photographs that recall a historic period in the art of photography. The exhibition will be open between 17 June and 31 August 2008 at the İstanbul Modern Photograph Gallery. Visa Renkli Ufuklar, Mas Matbaa and Marshall are among the exhibition supporters.

Originally created in 2006 at the Adasokağı High School of Adana and currently underway at Tepebağ High School through the efforts of Turkish Language and Literature teacher Nuri Gürdil, the photography workshop set an example for other schools in the city. The project soon spread to 10 different schools across the Seyhan, Pozantı, and Yüreğir counties of Adana.

Unable to provide the necessary equipment, the students participating in Turkish Language and Literature teacher Nuri Gürdil’s photography workshop resolved this problem by working with Pinhole technique, the most primitive version of the photographic camera that is based on the principles of Camera Obscura. In this endeavor, they created Pinhole devices by using punctured cans and similar objects.

All 33 young photographers featured in this exhibition produced equally striking images with the help of light sieved through the tiny holes punctured on the surface of cans. In terms of both style and composition, which is very hard to create with a pinhole, they demonstrated a skillful use of light in the photographs they captured. The ways in which they chose to express their efforts emphasized that what indeed captures the image is not the camera, but the creative mind. Under the guidance of their teacher, a handful of young students from Adana proved that photography requires brains and commitment rather than expensive equipment. Students in other schools initiated photography workshops by using the same technique.

The "Pinhole Photographs" exhibition at İstanbul Modern Photograph Gallery brings together the works of 33 young students enrolled in various primary and secondary schools across Adana, who are dedicated to the art of photography and use the same technique that a number of photographers across the globe choose to employ.

A simple principle discovered in 5th century BC

Today, this technique is used by a number of leading photographers in the world. In fact, its widespread use has led April 29th to be celebrated as Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Pinhole photography is based on a very simple principle. In 5th century BC, Chinese philosopher Mo Tzu discovered that objects reflect light in multiple ways and wrote that light admitted through a tiny whole creates an inverted image. In "Pinhole" photographs, the lens in the commonly-used camera is replaced by a pinhole, 0.25 to 1 mm in diameter. Passing through this aperture, light creates an image on the light-sensitive surface (film or paper) installed inside the dark box. Any closed, light-proof interior can easily be transformed into a "camera obscura" with the help of light admitted through the pinhole. By installing film or light-sensitive photographic paper inside the dark interior that faces the exact opposite end of the small hole, the box is converted into a camera.

A number of objects can serve as cameras in this manner. The pinhole devices that the young photographers designed to capture images are also displayed in the exhibition. Examples include a pinhole camera made out of an adhesive-tape box with light-sensitive photographic paper placed directly inside it to capture in daylight the exterior image on paper as a negative; a pinhole camera made out of a fragrance box to produce images with both 6 x 6 and 6 x 9 film format; and, a pinhole camera made out of a round halva box with a "ball-head" tripod adapted from the ball joint found in the front wheel linkage of automobiles…

The photography workshop created in Adana Adasokağı High School in September 2006

Member of the Adana Photograph Amateurs Association (AFAD) and a teacher of Turkish Language and Literature at the Adasokağı High School in Adana, Nuri Gürdil created a photography workshop at the school in September 2006 to share his knowledge about the field of photography and develop his students’ aesthetic taste.

The school is located in one of the less-privileged areas of the city. At first, unable to procure advanced cameras, the students began working with Pinhole devices, a much easier alternative to obtain. They communicated their artistic expression in photography through the devices they made out of cans. In this endeavor, they strived to show that what takes the picture is not the camera, but the creative mind.

In the course of this work, students photographed the monumental structures and the cultural heritage of Adana. They took advantage of AFAD’s dark room and partook in its various activities and events at their will. They also developed their own films.

The project, entitled "Light Filtered through the Pinhole", commenced in November 2006 and continued with the students" participation at the 8th annual event of 13 Kare International Art Festival. In 2007, two students received the display award for their photographs at Adana Rotary Club’s International Photography Competition. The team participated in the 5th International Photograph Days of 2007 of the Near East University in Cyprus with 6 students, opened an exhibition at the event, and gave interviews and presentations.

The photographs have a high aesthetic value and point to an important historic period

İstanbul Modern Photography Exhibitions Curator Engin Özendes, who first came across the works of these young photographers during the 5th International Photograph Days of 2007 organized by the Near East University in Cyprus, states, "The photographs were quite impressive, both in terms of expression and in terms of composition and the use of light, which is very hard to maintain with a pinhole. Upon viewing the works, I would never have imagined the photographers to be so young. When I did in fact meet them, these young people once again took me by surprise. The perfection of the photographs rivals with the level of awareness that these students have."

Noting that Nuri Gürdil’s aim was to contribute to his students’ process of urbanization by creating a certain sense of awareness for cultural heritage, Engin Özendes adds, "Gürdil strongly believes that this project serves to raise productive, creative, visionary, intellectual individuals with a sense of mission and a certain level of consciousness for culture and arts, who are at peace with themselves as well as their hometown and respect photography and any other aesthetic production."

Engin Özendes points out that the "Pinhole Photographs" exhibition does not aim to explore areas that remain outside the realm of art; it is not designed to support a social project or to emphasize the connection that the Anatolian individual has with photography. Rather, the images produced by these young photographers are displayed at İstanbul Modern due to their high aesthetic value and their marked reference to an important historic moment in the art of photography.

EXHIBITION SUPPORTERS

VISA RENKLİ UFUKLAR
MAS MATBAA
MARSHALL


EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHS