Light Art: Stop Time with a Stroboscope & Photosensitive Art
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
In the first workshop, “Stop Time with a Stroboscobe” held at the Goa Science Center, participants built a stroboscope and took amazing pictures of moving objects with simple off-the shelf components paired with a digital camera. There’s something magical in the way stroboscopic photography reveals us beautiful patterns that would be otherwise invisible to our eyes. But how does it work? The answer is, the stroboscope uses a rotating slotted paper disk coupled with a long exposure digital camera. Every time the slot spins past the lens, the camera gets a glimpse of the object and adds another layer to the image. Inspired by the pioneers of the photographic art more than one century ago, participants understood the motion of objects starting from wooden planks, toy motors and screws.
In the second workshop, participants learnt about the scale of objects by creating a story with photosensitive paper. With the help of sunlight, common objects turned into magical blue shadows, all that was needed was the imagination to make beautiful compositions that take advantage of the properties of light. What’s the difference between opaque and transparent objects? How does light interact with matter? Why is the paper that we will use so special? Participants challenged their artistic, storytelling and scientific skills and knowledge.
ABOUT THE EDUCATOR
Cristina Olivotto graduated in Physics and after earning a PhD in the History of Physics, she started to work in the field of science communication and formal and informal science education. She founded Sterrenlab in 2011.
Contact: cristina@sterrenlab.com
