Tod Ainslie uses pinhole cameras to capture vision of the War of 1812

Dauphin Battery and Gate of Five Nations, Fort Niagara, Youngstown, N.Y. Photograph by Tod Ainslie

On the eve of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the Royal Ontario Museum is presenting an exhibition of the war’s historically significant sites captured with pinholes cameras. Afterimage: Tod Ainslie’s Vision of the War of 1812 opens June 2nd and features 22 evocative photographs produced by Burlington-based photographer Tod Ainslie between 2001 and 2009.

The images were captured using three pinhole cameras that Ainslie designed and built specifically for the project. Pinhole cameras are very simple devices and are basically light-proof boxes with a tiny hole on one side. Light travels through the hole and projects an inverted image onto a sheet of film on the back side of the box. This type of camera was chosen because the photos they produce have a primitive look and Ainslie’s aim was to produce images as if seen through the eyes of the combatants, using a technology that was as true to the era as possible. The result is a collection of images that look as if they could have been created a few decades after the war, in the early days of photography. The 22 images will be on display at the ROM from Saturday June 2nd 2012 to Sunday February 24th 2013.