Camera Obscura is a composition for string quartet and and is a kind of homage to light, relating the process of capturing and recording light to music. It is in three movements:
Movement 1: A camera’s blinding flash leaves a series of blurry images that slowly move and blend into a more recognisable lifeform within the lens.
Movement 2: The separate elements have now evolved into a more rigid pattern and clearly-defined colours and shapes are separated by regular areas of negative space.
Movement 3: The performers interact with each other like the curves and lines of an image histogram, completing the photographic process.
Below is an arrangement of the first movement for four amplified violins and film. A recording is currently being made of the full quartet version. A film has only been made so far for the first movement but there is a Camera Obscura Film Crowdfunder currently running on Backer.org to raise money for the creation of films for movements two and three.
Watch the Film for Movement 1: