Core77

Some people make things as commentary. Some people photograph things as commentary. Wayne Martin Belger does both, at the same time. For several years now, Belger has been building concept-specific pinhole cameras, assembled from materials particular to the subject matter for which they are intended. This can include scraps of ancient holy texts (the Sons of Abraham camera, above, which also includes a fragment of the WTC), HIV-infected blood, antlers, ivory, or human skulls, depending on what's going to be photographed.

What makes these cameras different from most of the other design-as-commentary we've come across in the past few years is that they work, and the unorthodox materials incorporated into their construction affect their functioning in deeply intentional ways. The Untouchable camera, for example, uses the encapsulated blood as a red filter, altering the photographs of HIV-sufferers in a very specific way. The results of their working are showcased in nearly as prominent a way as the objects themselves. Each camera on Belger's website is depicted next to a gallery of photographs taken with them, as haunting in their own way as the cameras are.

Via io9 and notcot.