Stephen
Takacs

The Brownie In Motion Project

Brownie In Motion is a modular, room-sized camera obscura that functions as an immersive art installation, a functioning image-making device and portable darkroom. Physically, this piece is a to-scale replica of an iconic Kodak Brownie box camera that has been enlarged 18.5 times to a footprint of 5' 3" x 8' 5", and a height of 8'.

For the past two years, I've used this camera to photograph individuals who practice disappearing trades and crafts. I shoot my images directly onto a special black and white photographic paper that produces a direct positive, laterally reversed image, much like a 19th century tintype photograph. Thus, every image is one of a kind. While on location, I chemically develop my prints by hand inside of the camera structure in which they are exposed. Like the work of many of the craftspeople that I photograph, my images exhibit the marks of their creation, including pinholes, fingerprints and the occasional sweat stain.