Photographic artist and writer Liz Sales, with her work, “Less Like a Window,” will discuss varied photographic practices on Oct. 22 at SIU Carbondale. (Photo provided)
October 17, 2025
Artist to discuss nontraditional photo techniques at SIU
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Photographic artist and writer Liz Sales will discuss her work in nontraditional photography during a presentation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Sales will present “The Camera Obscura and Expanded Photographic Practices” during a free, public lecture from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the College of Arts and Media’s New Media Center Room 9E in the Communications Building basement.
Dating back to the 18th century, camera obscura refers to a darkened room or box with a small hole or lens that projects an inverted image of the outside world onto a surface inside, said Heather M. O'Brien-Takahashi, an assistant professor of cinema and interdisciplinary media in the School of Media Arts.
“This optical phenomenon was historically used by artists to create accurate drawings and paintings and is the fundamental principle behind modern photography,” O'Brien-Takahashi said.
As part of Sales’ art practice, she lived and worked in a livestreamed functional camera obscura for one year in New York City. Sales will give a presentation about the camera obscura as well as her own work with writing and alternative photographic practices. She will also offer a short workshop on how to build a camera obscura.
Sales has been a faculty member at the International Center of Photography, the City University of New York and the University of Connecticut. She writes for publications including Conveyor, Mercuria, LensCulture and Foam, an international photography magazine. She is the author of “This Folder May Contain Clippings and Other Ephemeral Material” and “I Write Artist Statements.” Sales was an artist resident in The Walker Cultural Leader Series at Brock University in Canada, where she built and used a 10-by-10-foot freestanding camera obscura with a group of undergraduate students.
“In an age of over-image digital saturation and stimulation, I’m thrilled to host Liz Sales who will offer an artist talk and presentation on the camera obscura and experimental/analog photographic practices,” O'Brien-Takahashi said.