Stanislav Sedlak
Prague, Czech Republic
Web Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25105222@N02

I met my fate in the form of pinholing by pure chance when I walked into an interesting website www.pinhole.cz in 2004. So I am grateful to the author of that impressive web for the initial impulse. I was fascinated from the first moment by the magic of the whole process and the amazing results of this technique. I read through hundreds and hundreds of pages looking for more information. I have to mention one of the most comprehensive: Pinhole Photography - History, Images, Cameras, Formulas by Jon Grepstad.
My cameras are very simple, I started with a coffee tin box and a black tape shutter, experimented with a 35mm camera converted into a pinhole, made several large format boxes as well as matchbox pinhole cameras, but finally I like my tin boxes best. My preferable format of negatives is 10 x 15 cm, initially I used BW paper; recently I have discovered medical Xray film. I develop my negatives myself in a darkroom; the picture slowly appearing is such a magical moment that nobody should miss it. Then I scan the negative and all the positive process is done on a PC, I print the final picture either with an ink printer or in a local laboratory as any other digital picture.
I try to take my cameras with me wherever I go, as I have found that chances do not come a second time. My set of four boxes, a little red tail-light and a black envelope with the films fit into my bag that I take with me when traveling. My job takes me to different places and the best souvenir from each is pinhole photograph. I carry the digital compact with me to take pictures, but also the pinhole cameras to take photographs.
I have found pinholing an extremely rewarding hobby that has taught me to look at the world in a special way, looking through a small pinhole. Certainly I have to think of an object in a different way when my box contains just one piece of film instead of endless rolls or a seemingly unlimited memory. I cannot stop wondering what can be achieved by such simple means.

by Stanislav Sedlak