Pinhole specialist Wayne Belger unearths hidden treasures and turns them into functional cameras as well as works of art.
From his self-described “funky workshop” in Tucson, Arizona, machinist, dive master, musician, and artist Wayne Martin Belger creates custom pinhole cameras, one for each of his evocative photo series. The result is a study in relationships – between tool and product, artist and subject, intimacy and distance.
“I think this type of photography is far more real than others,” Belger explains. “With pinhole, the same air that touches my models can pass through the pinhole and touch the photo emulsion on the film. There’s no barrier between the two. There are no lenses changing and manipulating light. There are no chips converting light to binary code. With pinhole what you get is an unmanipulated, true representation of a segment of light and time. With some exposure times getting close to two hours, it’s kind of like an unsegmented movie from a movie camera with only one frame.”
This direct relationship of light and air, coupled with the photos’ otherworldly qualities, create the simultaneous distance and intimacy you feel gazing at old family photographs – unknowable people in antiquated clothing with whom you share the bonds of blood.
“Because the camera is in direct relationship with the subject, there are no barriers between the photographer and the subject. I don’t see how I would be able to connect with my subject and produce what I want using something made in Germany or Japan. I don’t even own a camera that wasn’t made by me.”
An image taken by Belger of the Taj Mahal using his Dragonfly camera appears in the tintype shades of an old postcard.
“Dragonfly was created as an altar to a nine-year-old girl that passed away. I worked as an investigator in child recovery years ago. One case I worked on for sometime was a nine-year-old girl named Cortney Clayton who had been missing for over a year. Over that year I became close to family. Cortney was found dead not far from their home in Texas. Cortney’s death had a major impact on me. The camera’s subject is children. Children are the subjects of the photos. In the photo you can see two ghosts of a little boy and girl. I thought that was nice for the Taj.”
Wayne Belger in studio
Two ghostly figures of a little boy and a little girl pose stiffly in front of the monument. The stillness, the apparent remoteness in time, the formal symmetries of the monument, and the exotic destination combine to create an image that seems in many ways rigid and posed, yet there is an obvious warmth and sincerity in Belger’s gaze.
“Some of the ‘ghosts’ in my photos are people that stood in front of the camera while it was exposing the film. Because the cameras don’t really look like cameras, most people had no idea I was taking their photo. So they would move, creating a ghost. Some of the other ghosts in my shots I can’t explain.”
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