LISA BANG HOFFMAN

Process Notes / Images are shot on medium format 120 film, Ilford FP4, 125 ISO with a Holga wide panorama camera. Gelatin-silver prints are 17 x 7 1/2 inches on Ilford fibre-based paper. Exposure times are approximately 30 seconds to a few minutes in length.

Artist Statement / These images combine the wide-angle and sharpness of a pinhole with the of strangeness of a plastic camera. The wide angle and absence of a viewfinder shatter careful intent when making the exposure. For me, the essence of working with a pinhole camera is the experimental nature. One is never sure what is being included – or excluded- from the frame. Long exposure times create unexpected motion blur. External flash during the exposure can “freeze” certain parts of an image. Shadows can become a dense abstract shape. The extra wide-angle of the panoramic camera body adds distortion. Editing is a crucial part of the process of working with pinhole negatives. One has to be open to the unexpected. These landscapes and interior image lack the crisp details that describe the subject matter, and create more of an interpretation than a careful depiction. The added layers of abstraction created by the quirks of the camera yield images that create their own dream-like world.