Using a "Pinhole" Focus for Projects
Microseason No. 21, May 15-20
The larger and more ambitious your project is, the more you need to have a pinhole— a specific focus —to keep looking through.
—Makoto Fujimura
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture, a pinhole—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box.
How can a “pinhole” focus guide our work?
The idea of a pinhole-style focus provides shape and originality for projects. The smaller the pinhole, the sharper the focus—so we must try to keep our single-point focus simple and clear. The inverted image reminds us that we are free to discard worn-out or clichéd ways of working.
Think of wild vines growing in a forest: The vines could never flourish without the support and strength of the surrounding trees. Similarly, a pinhole focus creates structure and freedom, not restriction. It aims to give stability, strength, and guidance to a big project, but never in a rigid way. It is comforting and helpful to have a defined focus when projects become fuzzy or lose momentum.
The clarity of a pinhole supports growth and creativity.
For the microseasons project, I’m using a single word to guide my focus.
Testimony (n).
To attest to new life revealed in each microseason.
To tell the truth.
To describe what I find and share it freely.
Specifically, I trust this project to reveal something new every day, to help me receive it with wonder, and to inspire me to respond creatively.
In each small season, I try to explore the gentle relationships between myself and the various layers and life forms all around me.
The microseasons offer a place to let go of concerns, regrets, and worries— to simply meet the moment. I find it is a way to drop my own selfish suffering and just be here with all things. Contemplative prayer, walking, photography, and writing are all like this for me— a flow state when “self” and “time” can fall away.
My pinhole focus reveals a reverence for the more-than-human parts of creation. I like to get down as close as possible to their points of view— to be a quiet observer of their peaceful world. My photos are my Testimony.
My pinhole reveals the gorgeous form, structure, and order of creation. I can zoom in and out in the making of my art. Seen from a distance, the natural world may look chaotic, but up close there is fractal order, beauty and precision. I notice light and shadow, organic shapes, colors and changing palettes.
Beauty and generosity are working continuously throughout the microseasons. I sense purpose and intention behind the beauty. For me, it feels loving and personal. It’s something I want to share with others.
This is my pinhole focus. What’s yours?
There’s no need to rush.
Why not let the question hang in the air as you work?
You’ll know the answer when it comes.
Hi Ann! I started following you after a comment on Austin Kleon's page. I often think I'll skip your posts because I can't/don't get out into the woods everyday so I think, maybe it won't be relevant to me. And then I do read you because, why not? And then WOW! This is about the 3rd post of yours that has made a significant impact on me. Like, I've incorporated the ideas into my systems and thinking! I love how your writing is brief but tends to have these nuggets that are so impactful. Thank you so much for showing up and sharing.
Great post. My pinhole focus notice. What do I notice when I pay different kinds of attention? What do I notice when I choose be open to new experiences. What do I notice that is new to me but has been around for a long time.
I love the pinhole camera analogy!