i’m jealous of abelardo morell
I have to admit, trying to understand exactly how and why camera obscura works makes my head hurt just a little bit… thankfully these stunning photographs, by Cuban-born artist Abelardo Morell, make the pain totally worth it! Apparently all it takes is a darkened room, a pin-hole with a fabulous view on the other side of it, and voila… a vertigo-inducing marriage of the outside & inside like you’ve never seen before. But how? How?! It’s just a pin hole? There’s no mirror?! Ok, I still totally don’t get it.
{via Yellowtrace}
These are difficult to look at, but I can’t look away. The bottom two photos, with the white wall in place of sky, are particularly arresting. Now I’m jealous of this guy, too.
I lived my whole life without paying attention to camera obscuras until I spent a year at art school for photography! We learned about how light can do some pretty incredible things but I do have to say that this is the BEST use of the technique I’ve ever seen! I found your blog a few months ago and have been a huge fan ever since. Thanks so much for consistently blowing my mind!
ha! no problem : )
I’ve enjoyed this guy for a while, and my best suggestion is to go and make one of these yourself- it’s just as awesome, if not more so, than looking at these images. If you think about it, this is what our eyes are seeing all the time (flipped images) but our brain flips things back around for us. mind blowing!
Amazing work. Love it.
He’s one of my favorite artists! Have you seen the series he did using books and alice in wonderland, it’s fabulously creative and so beautiful!
yes, i’ve seen those too! beautiful!
I have liked his work for a long time too. Being a photo geek and all. It is such a simple concept is why it is so confusing. Basically, he makes the room into a HUGE pinhole camera. Does that help?
Hope you are well! Teresa
yes – it is the simplicity that kind of blows my mind. it’s just hard to believe a little pinhole could create such a beautiful result… that’s all : )
YESSSS. He spoke at the National Geographic Photography Seminar in January and I about peed my pants with joy. AMAZING stuff. He recently started building camera obscura tents in the desert, using the rocks and sand as a screen.
(and, he’s got a story coming up in the May issue of National Geographic!)
this is magical
I had Abe as a professor in college – and one of the first things we did in beginning black and white was to shut all the blinds in the room, cut a little hole in the curtains, Abe inserted a lens plate in the hole and we used a rolling, white bulletin board to explain telephoto, wide angle and normal lens theories.
When you see it in front of you like that, the cars, buses and pedestrians on Longwood Ave (beneath Mass. College of Art in Boston) then all the principles start to make some real sense!
Love his books, too, an amazing teacher. Great feature!
–Audrey
wow – what an experience! thanks for sharing audrey : )
I’m jealous of Abelardo Morell too!