Portrait of America
Reported July 2005
SAN DIEGO (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- From Polaroid to digital, our cameras have come a long way. One man is now capturing even <em>more</em> detailed images than ever before.
"You could go onto the roof gardens and see all the details of people's lives," Flint says. "Where they had left their slippers under the table and their cups and saucers on the tables."
Flint has captured more than 1,000 images across North America. His wife, Catherine, uses photo editing computer software to combine the individual focused shots of every major object in Flint's pictures. As a result, you can zoom in on the final image, such as the one from the Space Shuttle Discovery, and see the signatures on the banner.
To take a picture, Flint uses a laser range finder to focus, while a vacuum sucks the film flat against the camera to keep the details crystal clear. "It's a film that is used by the military for reconnaissance and surveillance," Flint explains.
As time and Mother Nature wear down America's history, Flint hopes his images will preserve her beauty for future generations. He has spent much of his career designing military spyware and surveillance cameras.
Flint's next step is a partnership with Google. Together, they will capture the roughly 800 world heritage sites to display online. People will be able to zoom in to any part of the photo for more detail.
Graham flint's pictures will be on display at the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts through September 18.
Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:
Optical Society of America
2010 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036.1023
Tel: 202.223.8130
info@osa.org
http://osa.org/
Graham Flint
http://gigapxl.org
Click here to watch the video.
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