A Forgotten Pinhole Camera Made from a Beer Can Captures the Longest Exposure Photograph Ever

Image courtesy of University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory, shared with permission

Eight years one month. That’s how long a beer can pinhole camera spent capturing this solargraph at the University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory. Featuring 2,953 light trails of the sun’s movement, the image is thought to be the longest exposure photograph in existence, surpassing Michael Wesely’s record of four years eight months.

Then an MFA student at the university, Regina Valkenborgh set up the camera in 2012 and subsequently forgot about it. This past September, principal technical officer David Campbell discovered it still fastened to one of the observatory’s telescopes, alerting Valkenborgh about the finding. The photographer said in a statement:

It was a stroke of luck that the picture was left untouched, to be saved by David after all these years. I had tried this technique a couple of times at the Observatory before, but the photographs were often ruined by moisture and the photographic paper curled up. I hadn’t intended to capture an exposure for this length of time and to my surprise, it had survived. It could be one of, if not the, longest exposures in existence.

PetaPixel created a handy guide for anyone interested in trying a six-month pinhole camera. You also might enjoy this long-exposure image of the moon streaking across the sky. (via Kottke)