Photographer Turns Trash Into Pinhole Cameras and so Can You
Pioneering photographer Ian Ruhter, known for creating cameras out of surprising objects, is turning trash into cameras.
As previously reported by PetaPixel, Los Angeles-based photographer Ian Ruhter is an innovator, best known for creating the world’s largest wet plate collodion photo from a 200-pound sheet of glass, developing the world’s largest 46 by 59-inch ambrotypes, and even turning a van into a giant mobile camera.
As reported by Good Morning America, Ruhter’s latest alternative camera projects are much smaller but just as cool. Ruhter is turning litter, primarily discarded cans, into pinhole cameras.
While hiking around Lake Tahoe, Ruhter noticed several discarded cans. This trash isn’t biodegradable, harms the environment, and ruins the otherwise beautiful scenery. As the adage “trash into treasure” suggests, Ruhter collected the cans, cutting them up and transforming them into “Caneras.”
Ruhter posted a complete tutorial to Instagram detailing the process of creating a Canera. He first cuts two cans, one for the base and one for the top. He then presses a safety pin into the side to create a pinhole and inserts a piece of Ilford photosensitive paper. Ruhter quickly adds the second can lid he made, covers the pinhole with a tab of electrical tape, and secures the two can edges with more tape.
Once he had a batch of Caneras ready, Ruhter hiked back to scenic locations around Lake Tahoe where he could leave the Caneras for a few days to a week to expose the photosensitive paper. His video clips demonstrate how he carefully places them and removes the tape tab over the pinhole, initiating the development process.
“My hopes are that I can inspire people to make cameras out of trash, that they find on the ground! Aside from making beautiful photographs it helps to keep the lands we love pristine. Basically a poke hole in a can with a pin and you use dark room enlarger paper for the film inside of the camera. No developer or chemistry needed for this process,” Ruhter says.
Once the exposed cameras are collected and brought back to his darkroom, Ian then removes the paper and digitally scans it, however he also mentions that even a cell phone picture of the exposed negative works just as well.
With almost two million likes on Instagram, comments have flooded in from parents and teachers who love how straightforward this process is for introducing photography to kids or keen enthusiasts of any skill level. Ruhter has put out a call to interested photographers to join his campaign and collect cans to create art, clean up natural spaces, and learn about photography, all at once.
Image credits: Ian Ruhter
