Light Hearted ep 242 – Christian Fiedler: Beacons Through Time; Winner of USLHS dance contest

Christian Fiedler Solargraphy – also called solarigraphy – is a niche form of pinhole photography that stretches single exposure images to an extreme exposure length. Relying on homemade cameras, darkroom paper, and a small pinhole instead of a glass lens, solargraphs allow an image to be captured over months or years. The path of the sun and the landscape appear directly on the surface of the paper. Solargraph image of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Hampshire. The walkway out the lighthouse appears ghostly because it was destroyed by a storm halfway through the exposure. Christian Fiedler, a photographer in New Jersey, discovered solargraphy during the covid pandemic lockdown. He developed “Beacons Through Time,” a solargraph pinhole photography project that has focused on east coast lighthouses. As Christian has stated, regarding what drew him to the project, “With the sun orbiting in grand arcs over the horizon month after month, these beacons through time have endured centuries of quiet and distinguished service.” The winning dance entry came from Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Oregon. This summer, for the first time ever, the U.S. Lighthouse Society held a dance contest centered around National Lighthouse Day on August 7. Entries came in from ten different states. The first prize winner was shot at Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Oregon and was produced by Sabrina Gorney, who is interviewed in this podcast episode.