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Camera Obscura Community was an experimental project, aimed at building a global community on the basis of a shared experience. Camera Obscura is room-sized pinhole cameras made by entirely blacking out a room, leaving just a small hole for light to seep in and create an image. It completely transforms indoor spaces and creates a meditative aura. The first time I made it, I was eager to share the experience with other people. However, people closest to me were miles away. 

 

So, I sent out letters and kits with materials and instructions to friends and family around the world with whom I wanted to share the experience. Alongside them, I collaborated with artists, art enthusiasts and photographers around the world. All participants chose specific locations, bringing and capturing scenes from different localities in their rooms. Several camera obscuras were created in the week starting April 29, 2018, to celebrate the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Participants were connected through a Facebook page in the lead up to the event, where they could discuss ideas and locations for the final day.

Anu Mridul & Shilpa Mridul (Jodhpur, India), Charvi Maheshwari & Kunjal Dhariwal (Jodhpur, India), Aathirai Muthukumar (Mumbai, India), Kaashvi Johari (Mumbai, India), Kanika Jamwal (Patiala, India) Bela Joshi & students of Colours Centre of Learning (Bangalore, India), Sara Tavasolian (Stockholm, Sweden), Luiza Herdy (Brasilia, Brazil), Andrew Crane (Melbourne, Australia), Tianyi Liu (Guangzhou, China), Ashmi Mridul (London, United Kingdom), Miryana Ivanova (London, United Kingdom)

Workshop with Mental Health Patients at Northwick Park Hospital: 

As a response to this, I made camera obscura in the mental health department of the Northwick Park Hospital. The therapy room of the hospital was transformed by the image of the streets outside, creating an unusual visual experience for the patients. They were asked to perform a grounding exercise by focusing their attention on the image and sounds around. Each patient described in detail one part of the image or a sound they could hear in the darkened room. This helped them become mindful of the here and now and gave them an outlet for expression. The doctors and hospital staff were surprised with the way some patients responded and the workshop gave them further insight into the patients' state of mind. 

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"The building is still and the tree is moving. It feels like the tree has so much freedom. I wonder how it must feel for the building to be stuck in one position."

Project 08

Following this, the patients also created their own pinhole cameras and stepped outside the hospital to take pictures of things they liked on the street. 

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