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Beyond The Lens

Photography has been a defining passion of mine for almost three decades. I began with a 35mm Nikon and a copy of "The 35mm Photographer's Handbook," both purchased locally, as was custom in the early 90s. After many ups and downs during the learning process, I began to get results I was proud of. Medium format photography beckoned and I moved to a Mamiya 645, a truly fine camera of its time. I was on a roll. In time, I would return to 35mm and the wider range of accessories.

In the early 2000s, I moved to digital and was struck by the immediacy of the format. No more waiting for film to be developed, prints made, etc. Photo editing software made it even more immersive to capture one's vision. Amazing stuff.

A few years later, I stumbled upon a book about pinhole photography. I'd encountered the format once before, in 4th grade, when the class made our own cameras out of cardboard and black electrical tape. Most failed, mine included. A web search of pinhole photography revealed a whole new world based on a 19th century method.

Long exposures, unpredictable composition, film(!). Pinhole is a world unto itself, with its own rules, its own results.
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