This series focuses on those who take the making of pictures a step or two further, creating their own photographic tools.

Ursula Ferrara, Italy

Italian artist Ursula Ferrara is embraces experimental photographic techniques. A lover of analogue processes she has made a career modifying equipment to suit her needs. She has converted instant film cameras to make tintypes, photographed with expired Polaroid films, and perhaps most ambitiously, turned her camper into a camera. To bring her portrait studio to her subjects, Ferrara converted an old Renault Trafic camper into an all-in-one mobile camera and darkroom.

On the back of the van Ferrara mounted an Aero Tessar lens used by the military during World War II to a large piece of plywood. The subject poses outside within a few feet of the lens. The long exposure times record subtle shifts of light across their face for a dreamy, ethereal portrait. Each photograph is one-of-a-kind, shot onto 16 x 20 inch Harman positive paper which is mounted to the back of the van’s interior. After the exposure, Ferrara transforms the van’s interior into a functional darkroom simply by covering the lens. This allows the photographs to be developed on site immediately where she often hanging them to dry from clotheslines on the nearby trees.

View more of Ferrara’s work on her website.

Have you made or modified your own photographic equipment? Let us know at info@donttakepictures.com