Lens-Artists Challenge #322: There is a crack, in everything ...

Lens-Artists Challenge #322: There is a crack, in everything ...

I will not deny it, when Ritva announced the latest theme for the Lens-Artists Challenge this week it really threw me for a loop. 'My idea revolves around Leonard Cohen’s saying, “Everything has a crack, that’s how the light gets in.” which encourages reflection on life’s imperfections.'

Ritva's quote is paraphrased from the chorus of Leonard Cohen’s song 'Anthem', taken from his 1992 album, The Future. The complete chorus is;

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, in everything

That’s how the light gets in,

Ritva asks us to 'take a new photo or find a photo ... that would express that sentiment ... These images should reflect your unique perspectives and personal narratives. Let each image tell a story, convey an emotion, or illustrate a moment of seeing light.' The chorus asks us to reject perfection, or acknowledge that you don't have to strive for perfection, and that certainly resonated with me since I have been striving for imperfection in my images for a while now.

In this instance I wanted to look at cracks in the camera mechanism that might let light in. My first thought was freelensing, which for the ininitiated is just that: instead of mounting the lens on the camera it is just held in front of the sensor and light is allowed to enter the camera not only from the lens itself but from the gap between the lens and the camera. I do like freelensing, but I don't actually like doing it since it's a sure way of allowing dust and dirt to enter the camera, which is something I try to avoid with my cameras, even the crappy ones. 

So I turned my attention to a fun little lens that I've had for quite a while, the Thingyfy Pinhole Pro S. This is a pinhole lens made for micro four-thirds cameras, and although it's beautifully made it truly is dreadful. However, it can deliver the most beautiful lens flare, and combined with a little Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) we discover this lens' sweet spot. I hope that you will enjoy these few abstracts from the Thingyfy that certainly let light in.

Themes for the Lens-Artists Challenge are posted each Saturday at 12:00 noon EST (which is 4pm, GMT) and anyone who wants to take part can post their images during the week. If you want to know more about the Challenge, details can be found here (https://photobyjohnbo.com/about-lens-artists/), and entries can be found on the WordPress reader using the tag 'Lens-Artists'.

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