Humor

Amateur photographer Colin Lowe is serious about pinhole photography, and he’s also pretty keen about constructing his own cameras. For this project the Australian made a working, “edible” camera from a potato, a tomato paste can, two 35mm film canisters and a refrigerator magnet.

Known for walking around Albany, Australia with weird photo gear in hand, he was inspired to create this contraption after a relative threw down a bet that he couldn’t take a picture with a potato,

As Lowe told ABC News Australia, “I get a lot of stares. A few guys asked it was April Fool’s Day and if it was for real.”  Like the spud selfie below, some of his results aren’t quite as sharp as others.

The somewhat more impressive shot below was made with another of Lowe’s DIY pinhole cameras, this one using a 160mm drainpipe he found in his shed.

As you all know, a pinhole camera is nothing more than a light-tight box with a small hole on one side. This crazy Aussie made his first camera out of a cereal box over 20 year’s ago, and he hasn’t stopped “innovating” ever since. “It’s a challenge,” he explains, “it’s pushing the boundaries to see what you can do.”

Lowe says he enjoys shooting long exposures with these DIY pinhole cameras because every image he takes is unique and can never be replicated. He adds that after all these years he still eagerly anticipates having his film processed and viewing the results.