The Mark 2 Vortoscope, a new and improved version: 11 October 2023

The Mark 2 Vortoscope, a new and improved version: 11 October 2023

Way back in April I built myself a Vortoscope for the Frugal Film Project, a triangle of mirrors that when viewed through it fracture and reflect an image. Each side was 3cm wide and 15cm in length and it worked a treat, but the Vortoscope would not fit comfortably over the lenses of any of the cameras (apart from the Gameboy) which was not ideal.

The shop that I sourced my cheap mirrors from, the local 'Euro store',  had run out of the square mirrors I used for the Vortoscope, but a few days ago I noticed they were back in stock. The mirrors were roughly 22x22cm square, so I cut three 7,5x15cm pieces and taped them all together. Of course, cutting the glass was not without its mishaps, but after a little careful trimming I had a new working Vortoscope. 

To use it, the Vortoscope is held over the lens of the camera and the image is broken up and reflected, like a kaleidoscope, and presented as an abstract. With a digital camera you can see straight away what the image will look like on the LCD screen,  but with a film camera, especially my vintage cameras, things are a bit more hit and miss.

I took the Vortoscope outside with the HP Photosmart R817 digicam from the noughties and tested it out. It fitted beautifully over the lens, and although the combination was a little unwieldy to hand, it work just fine.

#Cubism, #Art, #Abstract, #Photography. #ModernArt, #Surrealism, #Cubist, #Vintage, #Vortoscope, #Vortograph, #Vortism,