Photographer invents new camera

Clifford Ross wanted to capture details on film, but no camera could do quite what he had in mind. So, he made his own.

Ross, a painter and photographer, has contributed works to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum. He described the process of developing his camera, patented in 2004 as the R1, in a lecture yesterday afternoon.

He described his first experience with artistic photography as "a disaster." Attempting to photograph ocean waves, Ross entered the water and swam, camera in hand, trying to capture as much detail as possible. Despite his efforts, the images turned out blurry and were nearly indecipherable. A camera did not exist that could capture the details he wanted.

Frustrated, Ross began to search for new technology to solve his problem. "I think of technology as just one of my paintbrushes; it's another tool," he said.

Working with a team of scientists, he developed the R1; the R stands for Ross. The camera uses a microscope and mirror alignment system to zoom in as closely as possible on landscapes, clearly capturing elements as minute as birds flying miles away or the foam on the crest of a wave. Ross said this device can capture details from up to seven miles away.

With his new camera, Ross was able to indulge his "obsession with getting reality." While developing his photographs, he painstakingly isolated each detail of every image. Ross said he wanted to be so certain that no element was lost that he spent a year developing his first photograph and three years producing 13 more.

By focusing on every detail so carefully, he created landscapes in which the viewer could immerse himself. He said he wants members of his audience to feel like they are part of his photographs, rather than like outside observers.

Aniela Pramik '11 was urged to attend the lecture by her freshman seminar professor. "I had not been interested in photography before," she said, but the lecture changed her views. Pramik found Ross' quest for detail compelling and admitted that "there are a lot of things he said that I can consider when I look at photography now."

The lecture was part of Princeton's "/@rts" lecture series, an interdisciplinary venture sponsored by the Engineering School, OIT and several campus arts organizations. The goal of the series, according to its website, is to show "a wide array of works and the many ways in which technology and arts/humanities interrelate."

Computer science professor Adam Finkelstein, who helps choose lectures for the "/@arts" series, said Ross was an excellent fit for the program. "It is easy to believe that science and art are [completely] distinct, that communication between the two is not necessary," he said. "Ross was exploring science as an [artistic] medium."