2010 portrait of Cher MacNeill with her 6x12 Zeroimage pinhole camera

Cher MacNeill
Toronto, Canada
Artist Website: www.chermacneill.com

"As digital technology advances, our ability to readily produce and capture images increases. Pinhole photography contravenes this trend of speed and instant gratification and I find that very satisfying. The pinhole process is photography stripped down to the bare essentials. One needs to be methodical and considered in one’s approach. Intuition is given space to roam. I worked close to twenty years in film editing and I’m always intrigued with the idea that making a pinhole image is akin to producing a movie onto a single frame of film. I like to describe it as a cinematic crunch: 24 seconds on a frame instead of 24 frames per second. The resulting image is a distillation of time whereby the essential elements of a scene are extracted… perhaps reminiscent of the process by which a fine whiskey or a well-nurtured wine is produced. And I can only say cheers to that. Someone once suggested to me that a pinhole camera “aestheticizes” the image. This was presented as not a particularly positive trait. I guess I can’t really argue the point and whether it is a good or bad thing depends on the individual viewer and their general attitude towards the photographic medium. It has certainly provided me with plenty of food for thought…. Simply put, I enjoy the pinhole take on things." CK → Fortunately there are still places in the world where you can be completely at peace with your surroundings. Places still wild and untamed by man and the modern world. Landscapes where time seems to tick just little slower than we're use to. I can tell by looking through Cher’s photos that she too shares a love for nature and wide-open spaces that I do. And being that August is my birthday month and that I just travelled to remote locations on Vancouver Island Canada, it pleases me that the next artist in the series is a Canadian photographer. Thanks Cher for sharing your vision.

6x12 Zero Image color film pinhole photograph of a Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada (The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay were, and are, the domain of the Anishinaabeg First Nations peoples to the North and Huron-Petun (Wyandot) to the south) photo created by Cher MacNeil

Color Zero Image 6x12 pinhole photograph of a man sitting on the edge of an opening in the ground. Created by Canadian photographer Cher MacNeill

6x12 wooden Zero Image color pinhole (lensless) landscape photograph of an old house surrounded by tall green grass, trees, blue sky and puffy white clouds.

6x12 Zero Image color film pinhole photograph of a wildflower daisy field in Canada created by Cher MacNeil

6x12 color Zero Image pinhole (lensless) photograph of person sitting in a grass field taking a picture of an old home

6x6 pinhole photography of woman sitting on chair wearing a dress with soft light shinning through window

Title: Nude - black and white 6x6 pinhole (lensless) photo of nude woman in studio

6x6 BW pinhole (lensless) fine-art photograph of pregnant woman lying on tapestry in photo studio

6x6 color pinhole photograph of dragonfly resting on a large green leaf

6x6 color pinhole (lensless) pinhole photography of a cup of coffee on a saucer with a spoon in a coffee shop

Color 6x6 film pinhole photo of the Ta Prohm (Rajavihara) ruins in Angkor, Cambodia

6x12 color Zero Image film pinhole of old seaside store surrounded by tall green grass and the ocean in the distance

Color 6x12 Zero Image wooden pinhole camera photo of Egypt Falls located in Nova Scotia, Canada near lake Ainslle on Cape Breton Island

Color 6x12 Zero Image film pinhole photograph of a large ship at dock by Canadian photographer, Cher MacNeill