Pinhole photography in the focus at Storrington Camera Club meeting

Paul Mitchell, who gained his fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, spoke to club members and presented a panel of images taken using a ‘pinhole’ camera.

This came ahead of Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day – held each year on the last Sunday in April – which sees people from all over the world upload a pinhole photograph to a website to become part of an online gallery.

Kevin Harwood, from Storrington Camera Club, said: “Pinhole photography slows you down, the exposures last from several seconds to hours and without a viewfinder you have to try and estimate what will be in your photograph.

“The actual photo taking process is very simple as there is no need to focus – everything is in focus. Sceptics might say everything is equally blurry, and the exposure is controlled by simply opening and closing a shutter in front of the pinhole.

“Whilst this style of photography is probably unknown to most people it is one that has lots of attractions and for the club, one that several members have tried and appreciated.”

For club member Dean Sephton, it is a style of photography that he especially enjoys. He took part in Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day on April 25 and he has been successful in encouraging other club members to explore and enjoy this different style.

He said: “Pinhole photographs have a soft ethereal look harking back to the look created by pictorialist photographers like Robert Demachy and Alfred Stieglitz at the turn of the 20th century.

“What their photographs lack in sharpness they more than make up for in atmosphere. I’ve not reached their heights of artistic merit yet but its fun trying.

“A pinhole camera gives you the chance to get hands on whether making a camera from a cardboard box, an empty can or more elaborately from wood and metal. I made my current pinhole camera as a first lockdown project from odds and ends that I had lying around.

“It has pinhole of 0.25mm diameter and it uses ‘120’ film which is still widely available. Developing the film takes me back to my darkroom days but now I mainly scan the negatives and share or print them digitally.”