Making Photos without Cameras?

Question

How can I make a photographic portrait without the usage of a camera? The Camera Obscura was developed in 5th century BC by philosophers but there was also an earlier technique used by ancient Egyptians.

Answer 1

One of the first cameras that I was taught to use by the teacher that mentored me in commercial photography, was a cigar box with a hole in it. He also was a stickler for me to use a camera's swings and tilts to compensate for parallax and prospective. The cigar box had several advantages since I could "load" it with most any kind of sheet film or paper and it was quite portable and could be set up most any where. The "hole" had a thumb tack in it to act as the shutter.

Answer 2

composition and exposure can make or break an image. in 90% of the situations it is the photographer that makes the image...the camera is only secondary. it does help to have a good quality camera with a decent lens i've seen where the lens can blow a good image. but a top of the line dslr or large format camera will not make the images any better if a person does not know how to compose and expose to begin with. my wife took an awesome image with a cheap throw away more than once. and i see images in flickr that are incredible that were taken by little pink point and shoots.

Answer 3

Take a darkened room. Make a pinhole at one end. The incoming light will project onto the wall and make a photo.

Alternatively, you can take a piece of cardboard. Cut a square in the middle of it. tape some foil and make a pinhole. Now put the cardboard on a stand. The trick here is that the wall it projects onto has to be in shade so that you can see the image. It's the same way to make a homemade eclipse viewer.

Now, after you get the image, you'll need to sketch it in some way.

Answer 4

making photos cameras

Answer 5

You can make your own "pinhole camera" but it won't do very well for portraits. Just google "pinhole cameras" and you'll find detailed instructions.