Amanda Shopa, PhD

Category: Artmaking

  • Second Attempt at Using a Pinhole Camera

    Second Attempt at Using a Pinhole Camera

    I made the pinhole camera from a kit last summer, and when I shot my first roll of film with it, I found some tricky points. The camera needed to be made a little more lighttight, I wanted to find a way to keep the dowels that advance and rewind in place so I wasn’t…

  • My First Roll of Film with a Pinhole Camera

    My First Roll of Film with a Pinhole Camera

    Last year, I participated in an at-home residency facilitated by Christy Strickler through the Surface Design Association. We worked together in the spring to create residency plans (detailed in the post “From Book Thief to Pinhole Camera Maker”) and I expected my at home residency, an exploration of pinhole cameras, to be completed by the…

  • Fogged Paper, Testing Procedures, and Ilford’s (Excellent) Customer Service

    Fogged Paper, Testing Procedures, and Ilford’s (Excellent) Customer Service

    This post was drafted in September 2025. For whatever reason, I never posted it. Still, I’m so impressed with Ilford’s customer service that I wanted to share. Plus, I’m posting this in hopes of helping someone else who might be dealing with fogged paper but is unsure of where that could be coming from. I’ve…

  • Weeks 69–72 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 69–72 of 209 Weeks

    Week 69 of 209 Weeks:Whatever it takesMAKE Whatever it takes—Anna Brones (Yes, the original quote is “Whatever it takes,” but I wrote it incorrectly on this postcard.) Photo Notes: This is the ceiling of a temple (maybe?) in Seoul, South Korea. This was taken in 2018. Correction—I believe this was taken at a palace, Changdeokgung.…

  • Week 72 of 209 Weeks

    Week 72 of 209 Weeks

    Week 72 of 209 Weeks: “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” —Socrates Photo Notes: This photo was taken at the University of Minnesota’s iron pour in spring 2019.

  • Chasing Light Leaks (and Still Thinking About It)

    Chasing Light Leaks (and Still Thinking About It)

    My brother built my darkroom in 2018–2019. When he was done with the bones of it, it was my job to make the room light tight. I figured I’d need a cheap caulk gun and a few tubes of caulk and I’d be done in an evening. But it was incredibly difficult to make the…

  • Week 71 of 209 Weeks

    Week 71 of 209 Weeks

    Week 71 of 209 Weeks: “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play with the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done.” —Austin Kleon Photo Notes: This photo was taken…

  • Week 70 of 209 Weeks

    Week 70 of 209 Weeks

    Week 70 of 209 Weeks: “Don’t quit. Never give up trying to build the world you can see, even if others can’t see it.” —Guru Nanak Photo Notes: This photo was taken at the University of Minnesota’s iron pour in spring 2019.

  • Week 69 of 209 Weeks

    Week 69 of 209 Weeks

    Week 69 of 209 Weeks:Whatever it takesMAKE Whatever it takes—Anna Brones (Yes, the original quote is “Whatever it takes,” but I wrote it incorrectly on this postcard.) Photo Notes: This is the ceiling of a temple (maybe?) in Seoul, South Korea. This was taken in 2018. Correction—I believe this was taken at a palace, Changdeokgung.

  • Weeks 65–68 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 65–68 of 209 Weeks

    Week 65 of 209 Weeks: “What if I fall? Oh, but my darkling, what if you fly?” –Erin Hanson Photo Notes: This photo was taken near Stillwater, MN on September 6, 2018 when I took a hot air balloon ride with my stepdad. Week 66 of 209 Weeks: “The challenge now is to grasp and shape history:…