A Bealach Commission by Jon Macleod.
19 Nov 2016 – 17 Jan 2017
The project will involve installing 50 Solargraph cameras in locations across the island, urban and rural, activated to start recording on the shortest day – December 21st. and finishing on the longest day – June 21st. A kind of slow CCTV designed to capture the particular extremes of light and dark in the islands across the year. The finished circular solargraph images will be enlarged and exhibited along with a map of the locations at the end of the year 2016.
A solargraph is a long-exposure image that photographically records the path of the sun (and the view seen from the camera) as it arcs across the sky, usually over several months. It performs like a kind of slow CCTV. Solargraph ‘cameras’ are easy to make simply requiring a piece of photographic paper and a re-cycled container to make the camera. It works much like a simple pin hole camera. They are generally small and can be attached using cable ties or duct tape to fences, lamp posts, trees, buildings etc. No developing or dark room is needed to see the finished image. The negative that has been exposed in the pin hole camera is simply scanned and the image reversed in Adobe Photoshop. It can then be printed to any size