I reckon photography as a conduit between past and present – a way to move moments forward in time and to let them be therefore relived. Using cameras I have built and my own method of darkroom techniques, I am able to keep with that time-travelling quality and to add an ambiguity and uncertainty to the look of the finished piece. Additionally, I often use maquettes and dioramas as miniature stage productions before my camera. The work of contemporary photographers Jennifer Long and Dianne Bos inspire me greatly.
I have been building pinhole cameras and retro fitting film cameras for pinhole use for over 15 years. My cameras create work that reflects my dreams and humours; blending the simplicity and ephemeral aspects of the world with the arcane and outlandish elements of imagination; nostalgia and history, disregarded beauty and the mundane. My interests are in communication, language and metaphor, the force of habit, human nature and life cycles.
Each camera produces a different image (contributing factors include focal length, aperture diameter and aperture quality) and as most of my cameras do not have view finders, even capturing the same scene more than once can be a challenge. As a result, the photographs I make from pinhole cameras are all completely unique and cannot be replicated.
This is a selection of my pinhole and traditional photography.
All rights reserved 2011
Sylvia Vandekerkhove
