Marja Pirila
  • Photographer Marja Pirila is fascinated with the simplicity and magic a camera obscura has to offer, and has been intensely using it in her work since 1996. Pirila says this series, titled "Interior/Exterior," was a nocturnal inspiration. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Sara, Tampere, Finland, 2013."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila says that in a room converted into a camera obscura, she could capture an image of a person and at the same time that person's room and the view from the window in an all-encompassing method to capture a person's living environment. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Melchior, Rouen, France, 2007."
    Marja Pirila
  • To Pirila, camera obscura is a method used to survey the living environment and mental landscapes, summoning subconscious feelings into the light of day. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Tytti, Liminka, Finland, 2013."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila says the pictures began to form not only a person's living environment, but also to constitute an excursion into the mental landscape: reflections of memories, reveries, fears and dreams. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Kari Patricia, Bergen, Norway, 1998."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila says to take the pictures, she transforms people's rooms by covering the windows of the room with blackout plastic and placing a simple convex lens on top of the hole cut into the plastic. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Sarianna, Tampere, Finland, 1996."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila says the view outside the window is reflected upside down into the room, forming a dreamy layered space. This image is titled :Camera Obscura / Monastery Garden, Rouen, France, 2007."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila says the series, "Interior/Exterior," is the most extensive and long-lasting project accomplished with the camera obscura image. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Eero, Tampere, Finland, 2013."
    Marja Pirila
  • "Interior/Exterior" is an ongoing body of work. So far, Pirila has photographed this series in Finland, Norway, Italy and France. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Kaarina, Tampere, Finland, 1999."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila received the Finish State Award for Photography in 2000. This image is titled "Obscura / Tiina´s Room, Tampere, Finland, 2002."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila's work will be showcased in two retrospective solo exhibitions, titled "Carried by Light," in 2015 at Kuopio Art museum in Kuopio, Finland, and at Rovaniemi Art Museum in Rovaniemi, Finland. This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Iris, Nauvo, Finland, 2004."
    Marja Pirila
  • Pirila's work is also featured as a book, "<a href=" https://shop.aalto.fi/p/586-100264-carried-by-light/" target="_blank">Carried by Light</a>." This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Sirpa, Oulu, Finland, 1996."
    Marja Pirila
  • This image is titled "Camera Obscura / Anu, Tampere, Finland, 2004." For more of Pirila's work, visit <a href="http://www.marjapirila.com/" target="_blank">marjapirila.com</a>.
    Marja Pirila