Howard Greenberg Gallery

Out of all the photographs in the Howard Greenberg Gallery, the work of art that captured my attention the most was Campo San Moise, Venice, VIII by Vera Lutter. This photograph was from 2006 and measures 56 by 88 ¾ inches and is valued at $75,000. Vera Lutter uses a technique called camera obscura, also known as the pinhole camera. This technique consists of a darkened room with a small hole in one of the walls. Light rays pass through the hole and transmit an inverted image of the scene. This photograph shows the rooftops of several buildings with a tower in the background. The photograph has a good variety of lights and darks, and the buildings’ rooftops show a lot of texture.

Another reason this photo stood out to me is that last year I made my own pinhole camera for my photography class. We used a similar technique to create it as Vera Lutter, except we used a small tissue box instead of a whole room. Taking a photograph with a pinhole camera is particularly difficult because you need to leave it open for a very long time but then close the hole at the right time, so the photo paper won’t be exposed to extra light. Another difficulty is developing the photograph in the solutions and exposing the photo the right amount. My photographs always came out either blurry, too dark or too bright. Vera Lutter’s photograph is focused and has the perfect blend of dark and light. This photo is impressive to me because I know how difficult it is to end up with a nice photograph while using an ancient technique like camera obscura.