By Hevin Ramsey
No, these photos are not from photographic archives, but pictures of the Belknap campus in the 21st century using a pinhole camera. Just like the name suggests, the camera used to take these photos uses a thin piece of metal or aluminum foil with a tiny hole. After preparations have been made with the pinhole, a roll of film is inserted, and photos are ready to be taken.
Unlike digital cameras, a pinhole camera is manually advanced or moved to the next portion of the film, with the numbers above the photo advancing only by odd numbers. Pinholes also do not have automatic adjustments to light like a digital camera. Instead, photos are taken by the time of day and timed by seconds with each exposure. Once all the images are finished, they are brought into a darkroom and chemically adjusted to light so the photos can be viewed safely and scanned onto a computer to see the beautiful details.
I know this is a lot of information, but the outcome from a pinhole camera is fascinating! When you look at these photos, some of these locations might look familiar, so I encourage others to go out on campus and try to locate the exact spot I was standing to match the pinhole photos.
File Photos // Hevin Ramsey, The Louisville Cardinal
