London through a pinhole, darkly
I often get emails from people asking what equipment I use. Seemingly
the logic is ‘I like these photos, they were taken with a camera, if I
buy that camera then I will take photos I like’. The photographer Ralph
Gibson once attended a dinner party where the host said ‘You take great
photos! You must have a great camera!’. After a very satisfying meal
Ralph said to the host ‘You cooked a great meal! You must have a great
oven!’.
These photos were taken this afternoon with a pinhole camera. A box
with a tiny pinprick-sized hole and a piece of film, it has no lens, no
shutter, no cable release, no meter, and no viewfinder. 
At the risk of inducing Tate Modern Weather Project overload, here it
is again through a pinhole. Here it is a fake lens squinting at a fake
sun, but pinhole viewers are traditionally used to watch solar eclipses as they pass by.
Finally Big Ben, freezing time on a cold winter’s day. Dozens of people and vehicles become shiny ghosts.
