ORIGINAL WORKS

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Camera Obscura was for me like magic, the idea that any kind of object can be transferred to a camera and make photos was crazy.
I like that way of working, using just simple materials and a lot of imagination. There is no mechanical device involved in the process. 
At first I constructed wooden square or rectangular boxes in different sizes as my pinhole cameras. Working indoors using artificial light and natural window light, the exposure time was between a few minutes to almost one hour long. Later I discovered the cylindrical cans which gave me a new "form" of lines. 

Discovering the cylindrical form gave me the possibility to show the reality I saw through different eyes. By deforming and bending the vertical or horizontal lines I received a new kind of reality which did not really exist. 

I bought 30 metal cans of the same size and adapted them into cameras. I changed my car for a van and installed a darkroom in it and started to photograph outdoors only. My subjects were mainly architectural objects & monuments. The problem was that you can't see what the pinhole "sees" and how the subject looks inside the camera. Through the years, while gaining more and more experience, I learned to "see" what the pinhole can "see" too.

In 1992 I had the opportunity to realise my dream - to see how the image was created from inside the camera. 

The city of Paris invited me to do a project about the city. So I transformed my studio into a "Camera Obscura" (CO) covering all the windows with black plastic, leaving a little hole in each window for the light to go through. The outside city view was reflected upside down over the walls and ceiling of the room. For 10 months I lived inside the "CO" while photographing from inside the camera the view which reflected from the pinhole together with objects and my own body which were on the paper inside the room. Being inside the camera gave me the possibility of creating a new reality which did not really exist. I combined two different techniques, Pinhole photography and Photogram and I called that new technique : "Sténogram" ("sténope" - little hole in Latin). In 1993 I continued with that technique in different places in the "Carnavalet" museum and different artists' studios.

While photographing nature I was less looking at deforming the landscape but more in discovering how longtime exposure can influence the image and create other qualities and certain kinds of atmosphere. For example – the movement of leaves on trees and clouds in the sky, creating movement, and unclear parts of the image which create a contrast to the rest of the image. By using a pinhole camera you don't look for high quality sharpness of details but more for different kinds of atmosphere, feelings, reality ..... 

The stones of Jerusalem and the Bedouin lifestyle in the desert take me back in time. Like in a "time machine" I felt that I was in another historical period of 200 or 2000 years ago. That is why I could not just label Jerusalem under "Urban landscape" and the Bedouin in the desert under "natural landscape". For me that series has to stand by itself. I added the sepia toning to the images in order to give the impression that those photos were taken a long time ago.... 

After 2 years in Paris using my studio and other room spaces as a Camera Obscura (CO), I got another studio space (an old bunker) outside Paris which was in front a big park and high trees. 

I transferred it to CO and continued developing that technique (Sténogram). 

Here I went further in the process and developed positive images on large size negative paper. As well, I used chemicals like bleach & sepia together with some colour pigments to give another texture, colours and meaning to the images. 

Photographing from inside the camera made me curious to discover more about the Photogram technique.

Moving out of Paris to a small village allowed me to have a big studio where I could create and develop large size Photogram images. 

With the help of one 500w lamp, I was able to expose to light objects that I could find just nearby, outside in nature, sometimes combining with the human body. My idea was to "create the image" during the developing process and not during the exposure time like most photographers do. So the most important moment for me was after exposing the paper to light, taking the soak sponges with the developer and standing in front of the white paper which was exposed and starting to develop the image with my hands. I call that way of working "Naturogram" technique.

Using different studio spaces as cameras limited me to the view which reflected through the window, so I bought a new van with a high roof and adapted it not only to a darkroom but also to a camera (CO) In that way I could make changes more easily and choose the view I wanted to work with. I call that series "Big cities" because of the large size of the images - a few meters long. 

That large size paper I had to develop with sponges soaked in developer and afterwards I gave a last "touch" to the final image with a new structure, movements and colours by using bleach, sepia tone and other colours. 

In those years while using mainly the Photogram technique as my tool, I decided to move and work in nature itself !!

Using mostly the natural elements and sometimes the human body as my subjects, here the night became my darkroom and the moon light was my energy. Completely free from technological limitations (electric cables, size of the studio...) I was surrounded by the environment which was part of the process. 

In 2007, together with a group of people, I created a 30 metre long image, both negative and positive during a whole night. For me, at that moment photography became a photographic adventure where human imagination and the force of Nature came together to create an image. I call that technique (using the night as a darkroom and the moon light as energy) "Lunagram".

While discovering the magic of the Photogram technique, I decided to create a series about the 4 elements as Homage to Thomas Wedgwood who created the first Photogram (and photo images in general) in 1802. 

For the "Water element" I used a huge piece of ice which I picked up in the mountains during the winter. I laid the ice over the photo paper in the darkroom for approximately one hour and later I just gave it a half second light exposure.

For the "Air element" I use approximately 200 balloons in different colours which were inside a construction wrapped with transparent plastic. On the floor, under the balloon, I put a piece of photo paper, then I exposed it to light for approximately 10-15 seconds. 

For the "Fire element" I used heat as an energy to create my images. By putting metal pieces inside the fire, then in the darkroom over photo paper, I gently touched the photo paper with the hot metal pieces. Using heat and not light as energy makes a chemical reaction on the photo paper and while developing it, a new scale of colours appears even if it's black & white paper. 

Also for the "Earth element" I used heat as energy. So first I "cooked" stones (marble, granite etc.) in boiling water for a while , then passed the stones in a warm developer and lay the stones over photo paper for approximately one hour. The wet and warm stones created a new structure of colours and texture which do not really exist on the stone. I call that way of creating images using heat - "Calorigram" technique. 

People, Pinhole camera: 

It's not easy to convince people to be photographed with a pinhole camera. Posing for some long minutes in front of a box makes most of them nervous, especially in front of the public outdoors in a street or square for example. 

I discovered that sometimes the long exposure time can "bring out" some interior character of the person who was photographed. 

[Photographing outdoors and having contact with people while observing me (curious to what I'm doing and what is that box for ?….) gives me some enjoyment as compensation for the long hours developing in my darkroom all by myself.] this section was not in the copy sent by Ilan but I have edited it anyway.

Details - Objects, Pinhole camera:

Photographing objects or details of objects shows me some important characterizations of the pinhole camera. 

The pinhole has a very wide angle view which allows us to come very close to the subject thereby deforming lines and shapes. 

The depth of field is infinite because there is no lens (glass), so both details which are very close and far away are evenly sharp. That characteristic gives us the impression that a small object which is near the pinhole looks huge and without proportion compared to a subject which is in the background. 

For example, a small toy car can look like a real car parked in front of a real house which is in the background of the image.