The Hindenburg + Leica M3 Luftwaffe
Design for the Air
atelier ying, nyc.
This camera can be used for tourist aerial photography but I really envisioned it to take cloud photos and moments of jamais vu for the street photographer.
The design is practically all about options and configurations. I've included a replica of the original Hindenburg interior and also revisions of my own, but all of these serve to give the user an idealized experience on board the Hindenburg. As in all my designs, i attempt a retinal and also a cosa mentale experience, a natural feat for large architectural structures that have the advantage of scale and genius loci but for the tiny camera something of a high wire act as these effects must be subtly intimated. Presentation and associative ideas are now much more important. Whether all this can still muster the test to be considered as art is yet another hurdle to leap. Perhaps a little more resolve is called for than usual. In any case I relish the challenge.
Unless you've been on the actual Hindenburg, the fantasy experience is an idealized one. Therefore, opening vistas of light and clouds (different kinds of vistas too) was the heightened 'transporting' experience that I wanted to create. As luck would have it, both an invasive and a non-invasive method for digitizing the Leica M3 were possible. Note that the Leica IIIC or M2 or the Leica Reporter would have been much more suitable cameras but the M3 allows for an easier non-invasive modification and so I chose to give the M3 a faux grey "Luftwaffe" shell.
The camera enclosure is based off of the actual Hindenburg's Gondola which steered the dirigible.
The fantasy is as such: luxury passengers on board the Hindenburg dancing to music from a grand piano while looking at a live view (from the Lumix GF2) of clouds outside from the front wall. To use this camera the user pulls a dark slide to expose the digital camera LCD and then opens the replica rear door of the Hindenburg at the back to complete the camera's piano lounge viewfinder. He then uses a shutter cable release to take a photo. For an aerial photography configuration (an option) the user mounts the Leica underneath the enclosure and uses a different dark slide to reveal a glass opening in the floor, a very modern architectural feature the passengers would love. This is especially good for nighttime dancing. A Light bar carries the external sunlight into the camera's interior via prisms and filters to simulate a cloud view. A second light experience is of the Captain of the original Hindenburg whose important task was to survey cloud formations for possible adverse turbulence. A second eyepiece views a solitary ascension into the light above to the captain's gondola and is a reminder of his vigil. As there are a few large areas of storage in this enclosure, one can have small pullout displays of Hindenburg relics (They are available online), stamps and a set of replica Hindenburg stationery.
Do check out this VIntage Hindenburg movie. How come none of the passengers took photos?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZD3yAXSNc
Design drawings copyright 2013 by David Lo
The Hindenburg + Leica M3 Luftwaffe
Design for the Air
atelier ying, nyc.
This camera can be used for tourist aerial photography but I really envisioned it to take cloud photos and moments of jamais vu for the street photographer.
The design is practically all about options and configurations. I've included a replica of the original Hindenburg interior and also revisions of my own, but all of these serve to give the user an idealized experience on board the Hindenburg. As in all my designs, i attempt a retinal and also a cosa mentale experience, a natural feat for large architectural structures that have the advantage of scale and genius loci but for the tiny camera something of a high wire act as these effects must be subtly intimated. Presentation and associative ideas are now much more important. Whether all this can still muster the test to be considered as art is yet another hurdle to leap. Perhaps a little more resolve is called for than usual. In any case I relish the challenge.
Unless you've been on the actual Hindenburg, the fantasy experience is an idealized one. Therefore, opening vistas of light and clouds (different kinds of vistas too) was the heightened 'transporting' experience that I wanted to create. As luck would have it, both an invasive and a non-invasive method for digitizing the Leica M3 were possible. Note that the Leica IIIC or M2 or the Leica Reporter would have been much more suitable cameras but the M3 allows for an easier non-invasive modification and so I chose to give the M3 a faux grey "Luftwaffe" shell.
The camera enclosure is based off of the actual Hindenburg's Gondola which steered the dirigible.
The fantasy is as such: luxury passengers on board the Hindenburg dancing to music from a grand piano while looking at a live view (from the Lumix GF2) of clouds outside from the front wall. To use this camera the user pulls a dark slide to expose the digital camera LCD and then opens the replica rear door of the Hindenburg at the back to complete the camera's piano lounge viewfinder. He then uses a shutter cable release to take a photo. For an aerial photography configuration (an option) the user mounts the Leica underneath the enclosure and uses a different dark slide to reveal a glass opening in the floor, a very modern architectural feature the passengers would love. This is especially good for nighttime dancing. A Light bar carries the external sunlight into the camera's interior via prisms and filters to simulate a cloud view. A second light experience is of the Captain of the original Hindenburg whose important task was to survey cloud formations for possible adverse turbulence. A second eyepiece views a solitary ascension into the light above to the captain's gondola and is a reminder of his vigil. As there are a few large areas of storage in this enclosure, one can have small pullout displays of Hindenburg relics (They are available online), stamps and a set of replica Hindenburg stationery.
Do check out this VIntage Hindenburg movie. How come none of the passengers took photos?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZD3yAXSNc
Design drawings copyright 2013 by David Lo