I'm a little over 4 years deep into solargraphy, the chemicalless & darkroomless analog large format process that got me back into large format and eventually developing my own negatives at home.
But this isn't about caffenol or making actual exposures on paper or even the still very new to me accelerated lumen process that is becoming closely tied into my solargraphy work, it's about the placement of the homemade pinhole cameras that shoot my ultra long exposure solargraphs.
Most recent round of pinhole solargraph cameras filled and ready for "planting".
Making them is simple, it's a seltzer/beer/soda can with the top taken off, photo paper stuffed inside, a pinhole poked with a needle, and taped up to be light tight. A few zipties will hold it in place well enough, provided no one takes it down, crushes it, or otherwise messes with it. And therein lies the true challenge of solargraphy.
Digital snap taken the day the following solargraph was harvested.
I've spent the last 4 years placing dozens and dozens of these cans all over, across the greater Boston area, always walking the knifes edge between picking a potentially interesting view and wanting the can to go unnoticed for months on end. There's been many successes, and far more failures. You can't let it get you down to come back to some dangling empty zipties after months of anticipation, it's inevitable. Through both success and failure I've slowly begun to get a better sense for what sort of places will be left alone, and where I'm most certainly going to return to find nothing.
7 week exposure, same location as above photo. 4x6in paper negative solargraph.
There's plenty of places that feel like no man's land, but really are the realm of the unhoused population, and plenty of places that are just too risky to try, despite how amazing the views would be, I leave bridges and mass transit property free of my cans, lest some overly vigilant passer by call the authorities on an empty can with a blank piece of paper in it. For the same reason I don't use Liquid Death cans, even though they fit an entire 5x7 paper negative in them. Polar, as a local company, seems a safer bet.
I always make a mental note of the spots that survive a few months AND give a good interesting shot. Solargraphs are so different each time, repeating a composition is worth it, and a proven safe spot is rare indeed. The example above I think I'll be placing more soon, hopefully one that'll expose all winter into the spring. I'll be waiting.