Congratulations!

Congratulations and thank you to all who participated in our 3rd annual pinhole and plastic camera event. I would like to remind everyone that we show every image that is submitted. If you submit prints they hang in our gallery, ArtsEye. If you submitted via email or FTP we project your images. I have heard from many that this year’s Curious Camera event was the best ever. I am in agreement. We had a huge turnout for the opening. If you missed the opening, not to worry. The show will run through the end of July. Every year just keeps getting better. I look forward to next year.

Mary Findysz
President / Photographer
Photographic Works / ArtsEye

Winners 2011

Most Curious Camera - Winner Gerald Figal - Nashville, Tennessee Description: The ETC (EveryThingCam) I call this the “EveryThingCam” (ETC) because with minimal materials and at minimal cost, it does a maximum of things photographic -- it does just about everything. Story: I acquired an old shutter with a 4-setting wheel aperture, so I thought “hmm.... why not put a different sized pinhole on each of the four settings and build a multiple-focal length camera for it?” Next thing you know, I’m reading up on how to fabricate your own bellows out of light-tight cinema canvas. In theory simple, in practice painstaking. I painted it a very bright green just for kicks. What if I don’t want to use expensive sheet film? Why not adapt it to accept a 120 roll film holder? Indeed, why not? So, I then carved out a third picture frame that clamps on and sandwiches a roll film adapter between it and the rear frame of the camera. The end result: The EveryThingCam. Multi-focal length 4x5/medium format pinhole camera and 4x5/medium format lens camera. And all for less than $30 in materials. (But about $1000 worth of labor....) Gerald Figal

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1st Place Valerie Galloway Tucson, Arizona Ethereal, 2011 Toned gelatin silver print Beeswax, Vintage glass jar Thread, Waxpaper Camera: Holga Photo Jar Project: My goal with this project is to create a unique way of displaying my images. By assembling ordinary objects such as glass jars and thread with organic materials like beeswax, a unique objet d'art is born. I strive to create a sentiment of nostalgia, mystery and beauty with these works. Valerie Galloway The interactive frame for Ethereal was conceived and built by Photographic Works and was not part of the original submission. You are welcome to turn the the handle to see all sides of the piece. Please turn it slowly.

 

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2nd Place Andrew Phillips Alexandria, Virgina The Cyclone, Coney Island Camera: Holga To me the world has a sense of scale and vastness. My love of wide angle lenses naturally led to an initial attraction to panoramic views and panoramic format cameras. Then I discovered the Holga. Its cheap plastic lens with all of its defects and aberrations captured my imagination, plus the slightly wider angled lens was an added bonus.  Then one day I saw photographs created with the Holga where the photographer had overlapped multiple frames, in effect creating a panoramic. Since that discovery I have been shooting holgaramas (over lapping panoramic images using the Holga) on almost every roll of film. This image, The Cyclone, Coney Island was created by over- lapping 8 images in camera while walking the length of the rollercoaster.  Holgaramas are never perfectly lined up due to the arbitrariness of how far you might manually wind the film.  This creates an otherworldly, disjointed interpretation of the subject.  Andrew Phillips

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3rd Place Donna McDermott Tucson, Arizona Rt 37, Illinois Camera: Holga Rt 37 Illinois is from a series of photographs taken on a sojourn to reconnect with college friends. The route of choice was to drive the blue highways. The idea was to keep the pace slow and re-experience the midwest. The camera I used was a Holga 120N - we were first introduced in March 2009 and I have been infatuated with her personality ever since. The dreamlike quality, vignetted corners, trademark light leaks and outrageous colors when cross processed. It has been an extraordinary journey of trial and error. I have allowed myself to just have fun as my images are magically transformed. I will always be grateful to Holga for re-awakening my vision. Donna McDermott

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3rd Annual – Curious Camera Competition

We are happy to announce the 3rd annual Curious Camera Competition. Once again we will be honoring pinhole and plastic camera photographers with awards and prizes. We handed out trophies last year and the response was really fun, so we are doing it again this year. We will also be honoring the honorable mentions with a suitable for framing certificate.

Our rules are pretty simple - there are only two. The first rule is the lens needs to be a pinhole or plastic and the second rule is to see the first rule. Pretty clever Huh? You can send in your entry by good old fashion snail mail or you can upload it via our “upload images” secure server. You can enter as many images as you want and the cost per entry is a mere $6 dollars. You can pay via Paypal, send us a check or if you come by the gallery with your submission you can pay with cash or credit card.

There is also a competition for “Most Curious Camera”. Just send in a photograph of you camera along with a story about why it’s sooooo special and you may win a prize and a trophy and of course bragging rights for a whole year. We will be displaying all entries in ArtsEye Gallery and will host a reception on April 30 from 6-9 pm. We invite you to attend and bring your friends and family to show them how cool you are. Everyone is still talking about last years event and this years should be even better. Get creative and start photographing for fun.

All the best,

Mary Findysz
President/Photographer
ArtsEye
Photographic Works
Curious Camera

3rd Annual Competition 2011

Get your creative juices flowing. It's all about your visual brain. The photographer with the fastest glass and best optics isn't allowed in this competition. This is about using the most basic tools and creating. we want you to have that feeling-the one that made you feel all warm and fuzzy about photography in the first place.

The Rules

1. The camera must have a plastic lens or a pinhole.

2. See Rule #1.

The Price of Submission and Submission Dates

1. $6 per image. You can submit any number of images.

2. All submissions must be received at ArtsEye/Photographic Works by Friday April 22, 2011

How to Submit

Submissions sent via our website (use Upload Images link at the top of this page).

Drop it off, mail it or ship it

Send us a print. Prints should be no larger than 11x14. The quality of the print really matters to the judges. A good print doesn't mean really expensive.

We do not return the prints. They become part of the Curious Camera permanent collection. If you really really want your print back please contact us.

Judging, Winners and Prizes

The winners will be announced on this website. The winners will be notified via email. There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner. There will also be a prize for "Most Curious Camera." We will also award honorable mentions.

Curious Camera Gallery Show and Artist Reception

All submissions will be displayed at ArtsEye from April 30th through the summer. The prints will be displayed in the gallery and the work sent via our website will be displayed using a digital projector. The artist reception will be Saturday April 30 from 6-9pm at ArtsEye.

Print Competition Rules

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Prizes

1st Place
- a very fine 1st place trophy
- a brand new Blackbird Fly Camera
- your award winning image displayed at ArtsEye Gallery during
the Curious Camera show and reception

2nd Place
- a cool 2nd place trophy
- a brand new Lomo ColorSplash Camera
- your award winning image displayed at ArtsEye Gallery during
the Curious Camera show and reception

3rd Place
- a grand 3rd place trophy
- a brand new SuperSampler Camera
- your award winning image displayed at ArtsEye Gallery during
the Curious Camera show and reception

“Most Curious Camera” Award
- a terrific “Most Curious Camera” trophy
- a brand new Diana + Camera
- bragging rights for an entire year

Honorable Mention Awards
Last year we discovered the amount of talent out there was very deserving of a show of appreciation. So on the spot our judges determined that we should include honorable mentions-we did.. This year we will be presenting our honorable mention’s with certificates. It will be something you’ll want to display.

A trophy as a prize? Why?
We decided to give a trophy to our winners because we thought it was kind of funny. When the idea came up there was some complaining that in high school trophies were given out to jocks. As photographers there was no memento of our talent and skill. So we at Curious Camera decided to fill that emotional void, and will be presenting trophies to all our winners.

Insider Information
The people at the trophy shop, yes there are places that sell just trophies, searched their catalogs to find a camera trophy. No such luck. We even searched the internet and still nothing. We even had an idea that we might modify a trophy in some way. Okay- we were going to glue a camera on top. We thought it was a waste of a perfectly good camera . In the end we found what we think is a very “smart” trophy. Which we will have engraved with the Curious Camera logo and other appropriate information.

Curious Camera 2011 Judges

Teresa Engle Moreno

In her thirty year career as a master printer, photographer, and educator, Teresa Engle Moreno has travelled the world working with some of the most important photographers and photographic archives of the 20th Century, such as Robert and Cornell Capa, Bruce Davidson, Andreas Feininger, and LIFE Picture Collection, among many others. Relocating to Tucson in 2007, she specializes in printing vintage negatives shot between the 1880s and early 1960s, and continues her own photographic practice. A former instructor for the International Center of Photography, NYC, she currently is an Instructor in the Photography BFA Program at the Art Center Design College in Tucson, Arizona.

Stu Jenks

Stu Jenks is a photographer, writer, and musician in Tucson, Arizona. He was born in Virginia, received his BFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina, and has lived and worked in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona for over twenty-five years. As a Desert Rat, he likes to take long journeys into remote landscapes of wild beauty; as a Son of the South, he likes to then tell stories about the things he's seen, the people he's met, and the insights he's gleaned along the way. Through pictures, words, and music, Stu aims to discover the myth, mystery, and spirit of the world around us, to see the invisible and make it visible. He uses his art as a means of reflecting on the life experiences that make us human -- and, in turn, on those remarkable human beings who make us experience life.

www.StuJenks.com

 

Print Competition Form

Print Most Curious Camera Form

 

We would like to thank the people at Holga Inspire for their generous support.

 

 

info@curiouscamera.org • 520.327.7291