Camera Obscura: Abelardo Morell

DoctorIt

I was at a friend's house the other night and picked up a book he had on his coffee table. It turned out to be one of the neatest photography collections I've seen in a while.

I'd like to introduce you to Abelardo Morell

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1948, he has taught photography at a number of schools, and is currently just down the road from me at the Massachusetts College of Art, a school that is heavily associated with the famous Boston MFA.

The book I read was his self titled "Abelardo Morrell" and spanned works from his entire life, to the present. The all monochrome book introduces us to Morell and the street photography of his early travels, followed by some camera obscura, some travels in wonderland, and great collection of book photography - this is really good, you wouldn't think a bood could be such an amazing subject!

Morell's eye is amazing, the lighting and contrast in all his shots is what is most eye-grabbing. Some interesting depth of field usage and in his still-lifes, the crisp details are beyond life-like.

What really caught my attention was one photo in particular.



As it was explained in the book, this was a photo taken as a teaching guide for one of Morell's classes. I think he hit a homerun! It took me a few minutes of looking at this image to actually appreciate it. I hadn't yet read the foreward which had the story behind this famous image, I was first just looking at the images. I have never seen an image that actually demonstrates how a photographic image is captured.

Really excellent stuff. :nod

There are several more works of camera obscura on Morell's website, where entire rooms are filled with the inverted image of cities and places all over the world. This has definitely got me more interested in the technique and this genre. If anyone has any other good examples, I'd love to see them!

DoctorIt

Wow, don't everyone get excited about this photographer at once!



So I thought I'd add a link here for posterity. Some day, someone might be interested in camera obscura (wikipedia).

wxwax

Work it, baby.

Gus has some nice box camera shots.

Andy

Great post, Doc!

claudermilk

Looks very cool, I just don't have time to follow the link right now.

DoctorIt

wxwax wrote:

Work it, baby.

Gus has some nice box camera shots.

I'd love to hear from Gus... I'm still trying to figure out just how Morell actually captured that image. What setup did he use? what sort of settings? long exposure to match the long time it takes to get the box camera image? how long?

if anyone cares to speculate, i'd really like to geek out on how this was done.

gus

DoctorIt wrote:

I'd love to hear from Gus... I'm still trying to figure out just how Morell actually captured that image. What setup did he use? what sort of settings? long exposure to match the long time it takes to get the box camera image? how long?

if anyone cares to speculate, i'd really like to geek out on how this was done.

Serious ? Image inverts as it passes through. I will see if i can get my big box to replicate but i cant open the side ..just the top.


P.S.
My shutter is made from wood & brass & uses wax to lubricate...his is modern

DoctorIt

gus wrote:

Serious ?

Yeah I'm serious! How much cooler does it get?! This is a photograph of the photographic process!! It's like photographing physics in action!



But, one short plug, before we get lost on this one striking image, don't forget to check out some of Morell's other work, really good stuff.

wxwax

DoctorIt wrote:

I'd love to hear from Gus... I'm still trying to figure out just how Morell actually captured that image. What setup did he use? what sort of settings? long exposure to match the long time it takes to get the box camera image? how long?

if anyone cares to speculate, i'd really like to geek out on how this was done.

That's a real time image you're seeing inside the box.

Did you read the story of the guys who are turning a hangar into a camera, to capture an old Marine base?

DoctorIt

wxwax wrote:

That's a real time image you're seeing inside the box.

Did you read the story of the guys who are turning a hangar into a camera, to capture an old Marine base?

As I was flipping through Morell's book in the section where all the obscura images were, the ones where the world outside is projected on a series of rooms, I thought about that hangar and how it will make for some neat images "inside the camera".

gus

DoctorIt wrote:

Yeah I'm serious! How much cooler does it get?! This is a photograph of the photographic process!! It's like photographing physics in action!



But, one short plug, before we get lost on this one striking image, don't forget to check out some of Morell's other work, really good stuff.

Is it being made on photographic paper or simply an image being projected...same thing really its just that one is being recorded ?

There is a bloke that blacked out an entire room in a city & then put a small hole in one widow covering & the image the projected onto a wall across the room. He & friends were 'inside the camera' watching it.

wxwax

This is why physics teachers have the most fun in high school. They get the biggest "wows".

DoctorIt

gus wrote:

Is it being made on photographic paper or simply an image being projected...same thing really its just that one is being recorded ?

just being projected

There is a bloke that blacked out an entire room in a city & then put a small hole in one widow covering & the image the projected onto a wall across the room. He & friends were 'inside the camera' watching it.

This bloke does just that - and across the world with great effect! Did you click on the link yet?

ziggy53

Erik,

also check out these other noted "Camera Obscura" adventurers mentioned:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=245692&postcount=2

ziggy53

DoctorIt

ziggy53 wrote:

Erik,

also check out these other noted "Camera Obscura" adventurers mentioned:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=245692&postcount=2

ziggy53

thanks ziggy - I hadn't ever seen that thread!

DoctorIt

I've been in a bit of a slump lately with creativity. So I decided to try my hand at replicating some of Morell's work... imitation is the highest form of flattery right? And its also a great way to learn.

My version of the water alphabet (thanks to all my loyal daily photo followers who made me feel like this was good enough to post ... even though I'm not totally pleased with it):



And, Morell's version: water alphabet

DavidTO

Erik, as a fluid dynamics engineer, or whatever the heck you are, you certainly appreciate the upper hand he has over yours in that the surface tension of the wood (I mean the way the wood affects the surface tension of the water, I guess) in his causes the water to bead up more pleasingly.

Anyway, you've done better than I believe I ever could, nice job. And interesting shot to choose, interesting shot to begin with, etc....

gus

http://www.abelardomorell.net/recent05.html

DoctorIt

gus wrote:

http://www.abelardomorell.net/recent05.html

hey, everyone is entitled to a bad day

DoctorIt

DavidTO wrote:

Erik, as a fluid dynamics engineer, or whatever the heck you are, you certainly appreciate the upper hand he has over yours in that the surface tension of the wood (I mean the way the wood affects the surface tension of the water, I guess) in his causes the water to bead up more pleasingly.

Anyway, you've done better than I believe I ever could, nice job. And interesting shot to choose, interesting shot to begin with, etc....

Not so much surface tension - that's a property of the fluid and is therefore constant/independant of the hard surface. The key is the hydrophobicity of the solid surface. My cutting board was far less "weathered", or simply a different type of wood. I actually treated it with oil before this shoot to enhance the beading. I actually use this board, so I stuck to cooking oil, but the best way to go would have been a proper waxing - most outdoor and landscaping timber is treated with chemicals similar to wax = fantastic beading.

thanks for the comment