Help me make pinhole cams with kids at school...

[chilohm]

Hi
I am a primary school teacher in London, and am planning on doing a pinhole camera project with my class in a couple of weeks.

I'm going to make something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u1xBVQmeG4 and was planning on using photographic paper rather than negs so as to make the process shorter and simpler (kids are 10)

I want to know if anyone has a source of outdated or very cheap photographic paper and chemicals in the UK. I will basically not have a budget, and will be spending some of my own money on this (because it looks fun, and I want the kids to get involved in photography...)

Any ideas or tips for the project much appreciated,
Jack Sloan

Ferry Lane Primary School,
London.

 

[bob338]

Hi
I am a primary school teacher in London, and am planning on doing a pinhole camera project with my class in a couple of weeks.

I'm going to make something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u1xBVQmeG4 and was planning on using photographic paper rather than negs so as to make the process shorter and simpler (kids are 10)

I want to know if anyone has a source of outdated or very cheap photographic paper and chemicals in the UK. I will basically not have a budget, and will be spending some of my own money on this (because it looks fun, and I want the kids to get involved in photography...)

Any ideas or tips for the project much appreciated,
Jack Sloan

Ferry Lane Primary School,
London.

You might contact Ilford or Kodak and ask them to donate some materials. I am involved in a program where we take 3rd graders around and teach them about the history of our town. We've managed to get quite a few businesses to donate to the program, business owners can be generous when asked. You might ask a few parents too, we've had a few donate money!

Bob

 

[77seriesiii]

silverprint.co.uk is a UK based business that 'may' be inclined to help w/ either suggestions or materials.

Traditional cyanotype printing is a great way to go as well, pretty straight forward, easy to mix and used in lots of classes for children. If you go w/ traditional paper silver negatives it will require the darkroom and chemistry to make it work, cyanotypes develop w/ sun and are cleared with water. The major differences will be time. If using traditional silver exposure times will be faster than cyanotypes. Another possibility is take digital images, make a digital negative and then make a print w/ cyanotype (the print will be very blue but permanent). You will only need a dark room (not a darkroom) to coat the paper with the cyanotype solution, which can be done up to 24 hours before usage. If you were to ask me that is way I would recommend to go. the digital negatives are printed from a jet ink printer to a type of mylar (clear printable plastic), allowed to dry. No harsh development chems are used...just thinking from a safety perspective as I would be one of the kids wondering what a developer tastes like.

good luck

./e

 

[smillie]

In Edinburgh I actually had decent luck sourcing some out-of-date material at a larger-than-normal discount from Calumet for a similar project for world pinhole day. This was about five years ago, though.

 

[Mauro]

Dear Jack,
I suggest you to visit the website www.pinholeday.org that is packed with useful information and examples. I have some photographic paper that I would be happy to donate, but the shipping cost is too high unfortunately.
Congratulations for your project, and I wish you successful results!