Camera investigates the ontology of time through the lens of photographic practice, focusing on the material body of the camera as a locus of multiple temporalities inscribed within its materiality and the technical-artistic processes of production and development.
By choosing wood as the primary material for the camera body, the narratives of natural cycles and biological growth are revealed through its grain and texture. Thus, the device is transformed into a temporal archive that precedes its technological function. The manufacturing process—encompassing conception, assembly, and calibration—integrates into the expanded duration of the photographic act, making the camera an active agent in the production of time.
Utilizing long-exposure techniques in handmade pinhole cameras, the project tensions the traditional photographic "instant" by extending it into the image. This dilates the minimum lapse of time, drawing a parallel to the works of Michael Wesely by making the continuous transformation of reality visible. Within this framework, the camera is configured as a co-author of the image's temporal experience, challenging the notion of a fixed moment and legitimizing the multiplicity and elasticity of duration. The result is an open temporality, where the present pulses as a creative and inventive force, offering the spectator a sensitive experience of continuous and performative time.
TECHNICAL SHEET
Project: Camera (Câmeras)
Role: Concept, Camera Maker, and Photographer
Year: 2024 – 2025
Medium: Custom Handmade Wood Pinhole Cameras and Long-Exposure Photography
Themes: Ontology of time, materiality, pinhole photography, temporal dilation, co-authorship.
Technical Specifications:
Equipment: Cameras handcrafted from natural wood, exploring the relationship between organic matter and optical physics.
Process: Long-exposure pinhole captures (minutes to hours), emphasizing the accumulation of light and time.
Concepts: Crip time, non-linear duration, and the camera as a biological-technological hybrid.