Taking Shape - Richard Dishinger

Richard Dishinger
Lawrence, Kansas

LOW TECH - NO TECH

Over the past four years the imagery in my prints has come from my own photographic work. It all began with a simple pinhole camera made from a No. 303 soup can.

My early attempts at Pinhole (P/H) photos made use of Xerox copies, objects, and myself, all posed for long exposures. The breakthrough came with a simple and still one of my favorite P/H photos, a combination of a standing Pee Wee Herman talking doll with a digital snap shot of my face attached. This was placed on a work table and surrounded by small objects with a cut out section of an old print as a back drop.

This configuration suggested larger and more complex arrangements for photographing. The recovery of a 24”x 24” copy camera bellows, from a junkyard, led to the construction of a large adjustable pinhole camera which allowed me to make 16”x 20” negatives and with that event came larger more complex setups to photograph. The photos from these larger setups were intended to be the final product – exhibition photos in alternative photography. As my skills improved and the setups became more complex, the next step was to recycle this time and energy into material for prints and drawings.

One problem of relying on the large P/H photos for information was the time involved in producing them. Most of the time, construction and proofing of the setup took several months to final form. The photographic exposure alone is a four hour process, not a one shot deal, usually three or four negatives are made. To get around this time problem I started to use conventional Large Format photography, 4”x 5”- 8”x 10”- 11”x 14” negatives. For subject matter I began making rapid collages on my studio walls using much of the same materials from the large P/H setups. Photos were taken at various stages and this became material to be translated into prints and drawings.

Along with the big P/H photo setups and the wall collages, I am always making and photographing at home small constructions which get used for print ideas. All of this work, the big and the little gets mixed around and recycled from one form to another, photo to print and back again.








				Richard Dishinger Lawrence, Kansas LOW TECH - NO TECH Over the past four years the imagery in my prints has come from my own photographic work. It all began with a simple pinhole camera made from a No. 303 soup can. My early attempts at Pinhole (P/H) photos made use of Xerox copies, objects, and myself, all posed for long exposures. The breakthrough came with a simple and still one of my favorite P/H photos, a combination of a standing Pee Wee Herman talking doll with a digital snap shot of my face attached. This was placed on a work table and surrounded by small objects with a cut out section of an old print as a back drop. This configuration suggested larger and more complex arrangements for photographing. The recovery of a 24”x 24” copy camera bellows, from a junkyard, led to the construction of a large adjustable pinhole camera which allowed me to make 16”x 20” negatives and with that event came larger more complex setups to photograph. The photos from these larger setups were intended to be the final product – exhibition photos in alternative photography. As my skills improved and the setups became more complex, the next step was to recycle this time and energy into material for prints and drawings. One problem of relying on the large P/H photos for information was the time involved in producing them. Most of the time, construction and proofing of the setup took several months to final form. The photographic exposure alone is a four hour process, not a one shot deal, usually three or four negatives are made. To get around this time problem I started to use conventional Large Format photography, 4”x 5”- 8”x 10”- 11”x 14” negatives. For subject matter I began making rapid collages on my studio walls using much of the same materials from the large P/H setups. Photos were taken at various stages and this became material to be translated into prints and drawings. Along with the big P/H photo setups and the wall collages, I am always making and photographing at home small constructions which get used for print ideas. All of this work, the big and the little gets mixed around and recycled from one form to another, photo to print and back again.
		River Kills paper plate monoprint