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Report: Moseley Folk Festival

We had a fantastic time with the camera at the Moseley Folk Festival. While our other outings this summer have made us feel we might be onto something good here, the Folk Fest confirmed it. There’s no going back now.

Our original plan was to move around the site and point at different things, but MoFo (as it’s known) gets rather full of blankets and chairs rather quickly, so after a trial down by the stage on Saturday morning we moved to a hillock overlooking the back of the field, right by the beer tent and on the way to the toilets. In other words a perfect place to meet people.

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We can’t say how many people looked through the camera that weekend. It was easily in the hundreds. And all of them loved it.

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Movies from MoFo

We were at the Moseley Folk Festival this weekend and it was tremendous fun. Full report to come soon but we tried something new, sticking a little digital camera inside the camera obscura to record what it saw.

Here’s a nice representative clip from early Saturday of the mirror being attached, the view playing out and then, two minutes in, Pete’s friend Ian being given a tour. Watch for his hairy head.

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Report: Flatpack at the MAC in Cannon Hill Park

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Flatpack have been running a series of film-related events for the younger humans called Screen Juniors at the mac this summer and we asked if we could tag along one day. So last Sunday, prior to the Pinocchio screening, we set up the camera on the path between the back of the mac and the Cannon Hill Park and entertained the pubic for a few hours while people started gathering for the Eid Mela.

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Report: Festival of Imagineers, Coventry

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Last Saturday we took our camera out of Birmingham! Only to Coventry, mind, but even so. Next stop, Brazil!

We were invited to the inaugural Festival Of Imagineers, put on by Imagineer Productions who are responsible for the giant Godiva puppet that Coventry has taken to its collective hearts. That's not just hyperbole – it was really noticeable how much affection people had for their giant blinking puppet and this little festival really built on that, bringing in a load of similar performers and makers from around the country to entertain Coventry.

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Report: Warwick Bar Summer Fete

On Saturday we wheeled the camera to Edible Eastside where the Bicycle Basket Bazaar was taking place as part of the Warwick Bar Summer Fete. Got all that?

It was a lovely little affair put on by the various arty types in that corner of Digbeth and we had some good chats and happy smiles from those who had a go. Because Pete was on his own (Jenny was on holiday) he didn't take many pictures of people using it but here's one plus a couple we scavenged from the internets.

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Report: National Photography Symposium, June 14th

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In a move that might become a regular occurrence, Pete decided to overhaul the Portable Camera Obscura two days before its next outing in an effort to speed up construction. The result is we shaved a whole 75 minutes off the build time!

The main change is actually quite sensible. The camera part is now a self-contained pyramid which is hung inside the frame, similar to a pop-up dome tent. Other improvements included a new bright white screen at the bottom and a means by which the wheels don't fall off, both of which were appreciated. Finally, you no longer look down into the box but stick your head right in, allowing the viewer to get right up close to the projection. It's a much more immersive experience.

We were cheekily piggybacking the Redeye National Photography Symposium at the Library of Birmingham and they graciously welcomed us with enthusiasm. And while we learned that the public squares of Birmingham are not quite as free to use as we first thought (you need permission to set stuff up on them) which caused a bit of a kerfuffle (big apologies to those sucked in to it) we seemed to get away with it, we think. Lesson learned and we know who to ask next time.

We were outside the library from 11am to 4pm and the experience was quite different to wheeling around Digbeth last week. When you set up in the city centre people automatically assume you're selling something, thanks to all the incessant marketing that goes on. It's a shame, really, that anyone trying to do something non-commercial (or just for the hell of it) is automatically tainted by the intrusive behaviour of the marketeers and is treated with suspicion, but them's the breaks.

That said, around 150 people had a go and all of them enjoyed it. Our plans for bigger and better Camera Obscurae over the next few years went down well too which was great confirmation to get from random members of the public. Lots of people were already familiar with the concept and gave us tips and ideas which are always welcome.

A big deal was meeting Tim Norgate who runs Pinhole Solutions in Birmingham and who has lots of experience in building Camera Obscurae. He answered a load of questions we had and offered his expertise for future builds. The team grows!

Of course the main reason we chose that place and time was to meet people attending the Photography Symposium during their breaks and we had some wonderful chats with the lanyarded throng, from local photographers to the Director General of The Royal Photographic Society and heaven knows who else. Again, feedback was positive. warm glows all round.

With these two trial runs under our belt we're going to withdraw for a bit and plan for a big offensive in August when we'd like to take it out at least 10 times. If you have an event that could use a Camera Obscura please let us know.

In the meanwhile, here are the photos from Saturday!

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Report: Digbeth First Friday, June 6th

Well, that was a lot of fun!

The Portable Camera Obscura had its maiden outing on Friday, touring some of the arts venues of Digbeth which were all putting on special events for the First Friday thing. We parked it up, pointed it at something interesting and turned confused glances into big grins when people saw the wonders within.

Thanks to all the people who had a go and the many who had thoughts and ideas about what we might do with this box on wheels. While we have a clear idea of what we want to do, it's all going to be driven by the support of, for want of a better word, the community, and that support felt pretty enthused.

But primarily this was our chance to test-drive the camera, to see if it actually worked in the field. As a camera obscura it worked perfectly, but we definitely need to speed up the build (2h30) and takedown (1h00). The wheels also turned out to have a fundamental design flaw and fall off unless you rotate the camera around every 100 metres or so. Push, then turn, then pull, then turn… But considering we knew nothing about building a barrow from scratch we're happy with how it went.

Weather permitting, the camera will next be out next Saturday during the National Photography Symposium at the Library of Birmingham (which, I hasten to add, we're not affiliated with and are just cheekily glomming on to, although Jenny is speaking at it on Friday), probably in Centenary Square. As before, watch the Twitter for updates.

And so, here are some photos we took on Friday. If you took any photos yourself, please let us know as we really didn't take enough.

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Our plan for Digbeth First Friday, June 6th

Today the weather is lovely and we'll be wheeling the camera obscura around Digbeth, cheekily piggybacking the First Friday events that the various arts organisations there have organised.

This is the first time the camera will have left Pete's garden so it's a combination test-drive / world premier. Exciting!

We'll be updating exactly where we are on Twitter but here's the rough plan.

We'll be setting up around Curzon St Station from around 3pm. Where exactly depends on parking.

We hope to have the camera ready by 5pm and will take it on roughly this route:

Google Maps

We'll pack up when the light starts to fade, probably around 9pm.

If you're in Digbeth for the First Friday Fun please do keep and eye out for us. We'd really like to know what you think of this thing we've built.

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Rain postpones play til June

We've spent this weekend watching the weather forecast jump from one prediction to a completely different prediction and back again. "Unpredictable" seems to be the rule of thumb and so we decided on Sunday to press pause on this project for a few weeks until the sky gets its house in order.

We're looking at Saturday June 14th now, which happens to coincide with the Redeye National Photography Symposium at the Library of Birmingham. Which is handy!

In the meanwhile we'll continue to tweak and might do some test runs along the River Rea in Stirchley, where Pete lives. Watch the Twitter for alerts when we take it out.

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Postponed by rain

The weather forecast for Saturday is dreadful and Sunday looks a bit ropey, so we're putting this off until Monday 26th. It's a bank holiday so those of you with normal 9-5 jobs should be free. Take a break from the shopping and come and look in our magic box!

As before, keep an eye on the Twitter to see where we are. The fun runs from 10-5ish, weather permitting!