Camera Obscura

John Chiara's calm before the storm opens at New York's Von Lintel Gallery.

San Francisco-based photographer John Chiara couldn’t find a camera big enough for him, so he built his own. In order to capture his super-sized images, on display at New York’s Von Lintel Gallery through March 1, Chiara’s self-made camera had to be transported on a flatbed trailer. He then sits inside the camera, completely immersed in darkness, focusing on the light outside through a pinhole lens. Off-kilter and out of focus, his landscape photography is sometimes described “like a watercolor,” although this ain’t no Monet. Moody shots of sunsets, highways, and power lines look like horror movie stills. His ability to play with light is altogether shocking. In one photo, he casts shadows on a winding road, and in another he overexposes a shaft of light on an otherwise dark field. His blurred and grainy photos are dream-like chiaroscuros, fantastical things that warn of an imminent nightmare. —Erin Hicks