Through the pinhole

Using photographic paper and an Adsa’s worth of empty beer cans, pinhole photographer Justin Quinnell has been capturing images of Bristol in a host of three month-duration exposures.

The project, known as Sunrise, has seen Quinnell set up home-made 450 pinhole cameras around the city, the results of which can be seen in the Sunrise Project book which launches next week.

It hasn’t been an easy ride for Quinnell. Aside from seeing his photos eaten by mould and subject to water damage, he has lost cameras to theft, building redevelopments, beer-hungry drunks, and even angry druids – the latter wrecked his attempt to take a six month-long exposure of Stone Henge.

But Quinnell stays philosophical. His impetus for the project is encouraging people to engage the world around them using a simply-made tool. He says, ‘Being able to comprehend something is the way into the wonder of it.’

And the thing Quinnel would most like to stick a pinhole camera on? A giant tortoise of course.

The Sunrise Project book by Justin Quinnel is available from Blurb.