In today’s world of digital photography, where shutter speeds and pixel sizes are always getting faster and bigger by the minute, some hobbyists prefer to take life a little slower, a little more measured and intimate.
Even before Lomography made the whole film photography a little too expensive and commercialised for hipster noobs (jeez people, outdated plastic Russian cameras shouldn’t cost that much), there was the camera obscura — the most minimalist manner of photography eschewing fancy lenses for a very tiny pinhole. Thus, the name pinhole camera — a simple device that’s actually just a light-proof box that allows a very small amount of light to pass through the pinhole and project the image on a film.
The simplicity of the device means that anyone can make it at home. But not many do, because it really is pretty difficult to make one that works properly — the art of crafting good pinhole cameras holds an intricate, sensitive science that only experienced hands can make.
Wak Kamis Ariffin, a 70-year-old veteran photographer, is exactly that experienced character — he’s been making his own pinhole cameras (for himself and for sale) since 1993. Also known as Karto, the man is a world-renowned craftsman of pinhole cameras who can charge up to a thousand dollars for each of his works. And he deserves it too; the photographs produced by his cameras are absolutely beautiful.
But as the short documentary about him shows, Karto isn’t about the money. Throughout his years crafting the intricate cameras, he’s actually given away quite a lot of them, especially to enthusiasts who may not be able to purchase his handmade products. Watch it below and be stunned by his generosity and passion for the dying art.
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