The Pinhole Photography exhibition of Morante, Rammel, and Reed was augmented by a collection of their own self-made pinhole cameras devised from such unlikely devices as an Altoid tin, a paint can, or a tea canister.  Their showcase of photographic prints from lensless cameras is a reminder to viewers that before digital cameras and smart phones, simple photography started with light, film, and darkroom processing. 

F. Martin Morante: Born in Uruguay, and currently living in Random Lake, WI, F. Martin Morante has studied graphic arts and photography in Uruguay and at MIAD in Milwaukee.  Morante was selected as finalist for the 2011 & 2014 Wisconsin Biennial of Arts.  Recently several of his pinhole photographs were selected by the Edward Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, NY for their annual show "Small Matters of Great Importance."

Morante is greatly intrigued by the experimentation and sense of discovery inherent in alternative photography processes and is constantly working to understand its most important element:  light.  Photographs from his personal body of work are in the permanent collection of UNILAT of Paris (France) and Fotoclub Uruguayo (Uruguayan School of Photography).

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Hal Rammel: Town of Cedarburg artist Hal Rammel has been experimenting with various alternative photographic processes for many years, an interest that took him to exploring pinhole photography in the mid 1990s.   With longtime experience in designing and building unique musical instruments since the mid 1970s, the idea of building his own cameras and experimenting with photography from the ground up had great appeal.

Rammel states that “The difficulties and obstacles to obtaining satisfying images with pinhole cameras are in fact one of the things I most love about the process. I learn new things about looking at the world, about seeing light and form and about our experience of the passage of time in ways that would never had occurred to me in any other activity.”  

Vicki Reed: Cedarburg photographic artist Vicki Reed started her career in photography working for a newspaper in central Illinois.  The job of photographing breaking news stories could be hectic and stressful.  She found that the quietness in nature to be an antidote to stress and busyness.   Reed explains, “I gravitate toward simplicity and quiet moments.  ... That’s what I try to capture, no matter what it is—water, landscapes, people.  I always try to capture quiet moments.”