image courtesy: cubestories

This is a story of pure and genuine passion for photography. Exactly the same passion we X-shooters have, when we take our time to compose the image, to look for the right light, to wait for the proper moment. Or, to say it like the little prince: “It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.” We could say that it’s the time we spent to create our images, that makes photography so important for us.

It doesn’t matter which tool we choose to express our creativity and passion. For X-shooters like me, the “X-factor” might have helped us to (re)discover photography! But the X-system can not meet the needs of everyone.

And it definitely didn’t meet the needs of 3 friends, who call themselves the “cube photographers“. They went a more unconventional way to re-discover their passion for photography.

In a world, where cameras have to be smaller, faster, feel comfortable in the hands and images have to be uploaded instantly to the iPad and the social networks, the Cube Photographers choose to go the opposite path.

They built a big cube that works as a camera obscura and traveled through Europe with it, photographing ghost cities and mountain lakes, people and forests. And it’s likely the only camera on the planet where photographers don’t stand behind the camera, but INSIDE it!

For the best quality, they decided to buy the last 16 rolls of the famous Ilfochrome (Cibachrome) paper in order to be able to shoot 1×1 meter pictures in direct positive.

And whereever they want to take a picture, they have to dismantle the Cube first, and then assemble it again… a lot of work, as you can see in the images here.

But it’s worth the effort… before even taking a shot, it’s the Cube itself that becomes a quite spectacular piece of art and, as Mike Kobal said, “a true reflection on photography“.

But this story has no happy end.

In fact, there is just a limited number of this special film worldwide (16 rolls, all in the hands of the cube photographers), so the Cube won’t take pictures for long. The film rolls will also expire soon, and therefore, in order to mantain the best quality, the 3 friends have to diligently use all the 16 rolls within a year.

The sad truth is: the Cube will take 300 more images, and then its travel around Europe will be over.

So what can we do? Well, we can support these 3 guys, their passion for photography and the last year of life of the Cube with a donation. Or we can buy a unique photo taken by the Cube or, if you prefer, an image of the Cube itself.

And no, I have no affiliation, I won’t get a single penny on the donations or the prints (in fact I just made a donation). For what it’s worth, I decided to give a little help also with my small space in the world wide web.

So, dear X-shooters, check out more about the Cube at cubestories and feel free to support this little project:

How to support the project:

1) With a one time donation of $10 you can (if you want) get your name on the official Cubestories Supporter page:

–
2) You can buy one of these five limited edition prints for $150. These are the pictures of the cube (not taken by the cube). Only 25 prints per picture are available and are numbered and signed by the Photographers (Martinelli,Pizzini,Salvà) who built the camera. These are 30×30 centimeter (unframed) high quality ink prints that will be shipped in rolls within 3-4 weeks of the purchase. Click on the image to enlarge. Every picture has a history you can read here: http://www.cubestories.com/cube/.

Buy option is at the end of the picture list:

Picture Nr.1

Picture Nr.2

Picture Nr.3

Picture Nr.4

Picture Nr.5

Note: You can buy more pictures but only one at a time because PayPal doesn’t offer the possibility to select more than one picture for every purchase.

3) On special request you can visit the Photographers in Merano (Italy) to get photographed (or take a photo of your wish) with the camera. Contact them here: cubephotographers@gmail.com.

Thank You All