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 Thursday, June 12, 2008 Acclaimed Photographer to Make Special Dive at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Wayne Martin Belger will capture life under the sea with an underwater pinhole camera Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego The 70,000-gallon kelp forest habitat at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, will become the setting for a wet 'n' wild photo shoot when acclaimed photographer Wayne Martin Belger takes the plunge to capture life under the sea with an underwater pinhole camera. Belger built the first underwater pinhole camera in 2003. Belger's dives, which take place at noon on both days, are open to the public and included with aquarium admission. He will wear a special communications mask inside the tank that allows him to field questions from the audience. He will be available for media interviews following the dive. Pinhole cameras, which were invented in the 1850s, have no lens. They consist of a lightproof box, a 4- by 5-inch piece of film and an extremely small hole, typically the size of a pin. Light enters through the hole, forming an image on the film. Because of the pinhole's size, there is infinite depth of field, making faraway objects appear as sharp as those captured from any distance. Pinhole photographs generally have a soft focus with darker areas at the edges - a style difficult to emulate with modern cameras. Belger built his own underwater version of the camera in 2003. Named Yemaya after the Afro-Cuban goddess of the ocean, the camera is made from aluminum, brass, titanium and other materials. A quarter-inch acrylic pane covers the pinhole to block out water.  Belger diving with his underwater pinhole camera at Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2006. Image Courtesy of Wayne Martin Belger. About Wayne Martin Belger Belger is a Tucson-based artist who designs, fabricates and specializes in pinhole cameras. He is recognized for the unusual organic materials he uses to construct the devices, including human skulls, bones, organs and blood. His work has been featured in nearly two-dozen galleries on the West Coast. More information can be found on his Web site, www.boyofblue.com. About Birch Aquarium at Scripps  One of Belger's photographs from his 2006 dive at Monterey Bay Aquarium. High-resolution photos are available. Media who wish to attend either of Belger's dives should contact: Jessica Crawford Scripps Communications Specialist 858-534-3624 birchaqmnews@ucsd.edu # # # Visit Birch Aquarium at Scripps Location: 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla, Calif. Phone: 858-534-FISH Website: http://aquarium.ucsd.edu Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily Admission: $11 Adult, 18+ $9 Senior, 60+ $7.50 Youth, 3-17 Free Children, 2 and under Free Scripps Oceanographic Society Members Directions: From Interstate 5, exit at La Jolla Village Drive. West one mile. Left on Expedition Way. Parking: Birch Aquarium offers three-hour courtesy parking. # # # Note to broadcast and cable producers: University of California, San Diego provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. Please phone or e-mail the media contact listed above to arrange an interview. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. |
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