Tent/Camera Process

Abelardo Morell's Tent/Camera is made of a simple light–proof material that wraps around a large redesigned tripod. The tripod has a plate on top that holds two devices. The first device is a 90–degree prism with a lens attached, called a diopter. This prism acts like a periscope projecting an image of the nearby landscape on the ground below. The focus of the image projected can be adjusted by raising or lowering the height of the tent. This has the effect of changing the focal length of the lens attached to the prism, resulting in a discrete focused area of the image. The second device, next to the prism on top, is a digital camera looking straight down and focused on the ground. A picture made with a Tent/Camera shows both the granular details of the ground (stones, grass, dirt, cement, etc.) and a projected vista of the landscape, giving the overall image an illusion of a painterly patina. The camera is connected to a laptop outside the tent which allows the artist to compose, focus, and view the image with precision.