Halifax artist creates giant 'camera obscura'
A Halifax artist’s candid creation is capturing the attention of everyone who gets a chance to see it.
An Milne’s love of photography led the Halifax artist to create something big.
“It became this way of creating this unexpected experience for people,” Milne said.
Armed with wood working skills from high school, Milne’s artistic alchemy led to the creation of a giant camera - and it’s not the first big camera the artist has made.
“I felt like building a really large camera would create this amazing public spectacle,” Milne said.
Constructed of oak and a lens bought at a Winnipeg flea market for $100 - the project is a ‘camera obscura,’ a basic principle of optics that even predates photography.
“I was interested in the sense of photography, and its attachment to physical artifact. With the big camera, there was this idea that I could be inside the camera and interact with the photograph directly, pushing and pulling with what is a photograph,” Milne said.
Camera obscura is essentially a dark room, where light passes through the lens and projects the outside world onto the wall creating a 4X5 large format image.
“The images that you make inside the camera, you can put up a sheet of film and record a photograph like you normally would, but you can also put up a piece of paper and trace, draw and interact with the images that are projected,” said Milne.
Milne says the most unexpected part of the project has been the public interaction.
The artist encourages spectators to climb inside the camera themselves to get the full experience.
“The work became as much about the public interaction as it did about making the photographs," Milne said. "They’ll climb inside the camera and have this crazy experience.”
Contrary to its name, camera obscura is giving people a shared experience they will certainly remember.
Milne's work can be found online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
BREAKING Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.