BUILD CAMERA

Preface
BUILD CAMERA

In February 2011 Perth & Kinross Council Arts Development Service brought together a group of local residents, young people and staff in the Loch Leven Community Campus as the steering group for a public art project within the campus. This publication is designed to serve as a visual record and summary of the project commissioned by that group. The Build Camera project follows on from my research carried out during studies at Dundee School of Architecture. Themes such as peoples connection with place, and the benefits of working in collaboration are explored throughout the process. The project evolves from the disciplines of Architecture and Photography. Photography could be viewed as the medium used to act out some of the thinking brought forward from previous research. The visual works represented throughout this publication are not intended to be conclusive in themselves, but rather evolutionary as they document the process of engaging the community through a series of workshops. There were many benefits to this collaboration bringing young and old together in community, in learning-throughdoing, in making and observing, as-well as engaging with the local environment through Patrick Geddes active survey. It is my hope that this publication records and documents the process of the Build Camera project, giving an insight into the various community engaged activities and the thinking behind them. I would like to personally thank the local steering group for the opportunity and space to test ideas in a real world setting. I would also like to extend this thanks to all those community members who got involved throughout the project. Your enthusiasm and willingness to take part in experimental work has enabled ideas to become a living reality.
Stephen McCullough Loch Leven Community Campus Public Artist

get beyond books, and even ball games, and into active survey, always growing and extending, of the real world around you. And seeking out, and finding out, what your life can best do to help in that, to be of service to it Patrick Geddes

Introduction
Loch Leven Community Campus Public Art Commission

The aim of the steering group was to recruit an artist who would develop a unique art project by engaging creatively with the local community in the newly opened campus.

Extract from project brief

The work produced should be a response to some aspect of the local area ... As part of the residency the artist will creatively collaborate with members of the local community.

Extract from project proposal

In approaching a project that seeks to engage with the community, it is nearly impossible to avoid Patrick Geddes. It was his belief that we live within a constantly evolving archive, and that if we only knew how to look at it, we would be able to make a huge difference to our surroundings. The focus of this proposal is to get back onto the streets for what Geddes referred to as active survey.

Project introduction - A starting point

Sir Patrick Geddes work has been a major influence on ideas developed and activities undertaken throughout the Build Camera project. Throughout his diverse career, he worked within towns and cities, interested in bringing about social change through community. The Build Camera project responds to his idea of active survey aiming to engage community members in this process through the medium of photography. It is through this activity that the Build Camera project seeks to make strong connections between people and place. The project takes the form of two stages, each stage working at very differing scales. Stage one engages with the principles of photography on a small scale, whereas stage two engages the principles of photography on a much larger scale. Photograph captured + printed by Kate Low

Stage 1
Pinhole Cameras + Dark Room development

Participants at stage 1 had the opportunity to engage with photographic first principles as they built their own photographic tools to explore, record and document their local surroundings. This activity involved building matchbox pinhole cameras, very simple cameras which allow participants to get away from the technology of photography and better appreciate the process of photography. Responding to the theme of place This began the process of active survey as the cameras were used to capture images under the theme of place. The participants began the process of looking and finding as they produced photographic results. Stage one activities set the scene in order to explore the principles of photography at a much larger scale through camera obscura at stage two.

All photographs captured and printed by Stage 1 participants

Stage 2
Process
1. Block out any light entering the space. 2. Modify a single window aperature to include a small circular opening. 3. Record and document the obscura using long exposure photography.

Camera Obscura | A jump in scale

Camera obscura workshops offered the opportunity to engage directly with the local environment, not only recording images of space, but using space itself as part of the image making process. The resulting images may be seen as a by-product charting or mapping the process. Many spaces were considered as venues for the camera obscura workshops, two of them coming to fruition. Theses two spaces could be categorized as forgotten / unused / redundant / surplus. The first space was the Kirkgate Tower, dating back to 1852. Not much is known about the towers history, but it is widely believed that it was built to guard against grave robbers. In more recent history the space has been used as a sheltered waiting room, but has recently lost this function due to the relocation of the Loch Leven boat crossing. The second space was Kinross County Buildings. This grade B listed building has had a diverse history of use. Originally built as a courthouse, jail and mortuary in 1825/26, while more recently used for council offices. The building has fallen into disuse since council activity vacated the property, relocating to the Loch Leven Community Campus. Through the camera obscura workshops these spaces were brought new life, both in the buildings temporal use as well as a new conscious awareness, gained by those involved in workshop activities. The workshops take place at a time where the buildings value and relevance today are in question by local authorities and residents. In the interim the Build Camera project creatively inhabits the spaces, working within a gap between use and disuse.

Kirkgate Tower | Kirkgate Park | Kinross

Stage 2
Camera Obscura | Kirkgate Tower

By-products
The images captured are rich in depth due to their hybrid nature, capturing the projected image of the exterior as well as the interior space. They reflect creative, community engagement with two neglected spaces in Kinross. Using these spaces as pinhole cameras allowed us to see with fresh eyes what we take for granted, whether landscape, our environment or process.
Raw image Inverted image

The camera obscura workshops offered a new way to look at forgotten space in Kinross, making us more consious of seeing again. The process restores a sense of wonder, allowing us to reconsider not only what we look at, but how we look at it and how we can work together to better understand and develop our environment. These ideas are in keeping with Geddes theories of surveying and active learning.

Kirkgate Tower 1915 OS map Kinross-shire Sheet XXV1. 2.

Stage 2 Camera Obscura | Kinross County Buildings

Archive Drawings : Perth and Kinross Council Archives CC2/PC/Bundle9 County House Proposal | Thomas Brown 1824

Kinross High School S3 Pupils 03/10/12

Kinross County Buildings

Drawing from Camera Obscura

Community Event Participants 06/10/12

The following drawings were produced during camera obscura workshops in Kinross County Buildings and represent a physical recording of the camera obscura. These were drawn from an inverted projection created by a small circular opening in the window, looking back at Kinross High Street. This task brings the Build Camera community workshops to a close, marking a point where photography has been traced back to its very origin. It is at this large scale that participants engage with the raw physics of photography while bringing creative activity and a new temporal use to otherwise forgotten space in Kinross.

Youth Services Group 03/10/12

Thanks to all those who have supported this project: The Campus Public Art Steering Group - Glenys Andrews, Georgie Beavan, Dylan Holden, Susan Kelly, Hollie Lamond, Alexandra McGregor, Ruth MacCalman, Esme MacIntyre, Gemma Matthews, Graham Montgomery, Tracey Ramsay, Gordon Sime, Tom Sutton Smith | Perth & Kinross Council Arts Development Service | HARMAN technology Limited - Ilford Photo | Specsavers Opticians Dundee | Perth & Kinross Council Cultural & Community Services, Children & Family Services, Environment Service & Property Development | Kinross Youth Group | Kinross Adult Learning Group | Loch Leven Campus Management Group | Loch Leven Campus Library |Perth & Kinross Council Archive | AK Bell Library - Local Studies | MITIE | Dave Cuthbert | Owen Daily | Pupils of Kinross High School & all other individuals who have participated in workshops.

buildcamera.wordpress.com