Maciej Markowicz and his camera obscura on the Spree

The artist Maciej Markowicz has created an extraordinary project in Berlin: a floating camera obscura boat that is a camera, darkroom and studio all in one. Traveling along the Spree and Berlin’s canals, it transforms the city itself into a moving image. Those who come on board experience photography in its most original form – without a lens, without a digital sensor, solely through the incident light that is projected onto light-sensitive paper.

The boat works like an oversized pinhole camera: the light falls through a small opening into the darkened room and draws an upside-down, reversed image of the surroundings on the paper. Markowicz works without a negative or digital intermediate step – the image is created directly on the photographic paper and remains a unique original. The exposure time is usually only a few seconds, but in this short span the camera captures a whole world of movement, light and time.

For Markowicz, this project is far more than just a technical gimmick. He sees his boat as a “moving camera”, a living instrument that makes it possible to experience the city and its dynamics in a meditative, decelerated process. While digital photography often seems too fast and too distant for him, the camera obscura allows him to understand photography as a direct encounter with light and space. In the silence of the darkroom, surrounded by the gentle sound of water, a space of concentration, seeing and being is created – a poetic journey through Berlin and at the same time a reflection on perception and transience.

Visiting the SCHULBAU trade fair:
We are particularly pleased that Maciej Markowicz will be a guest at this year’s SCHULBAU trade fair. In his presentation, he will show how the camera obscura can be used not only as an art object, but also as an educational tool. Markowicz has already worked successfully with pupils and taught them in an impressive way how light, space and perception interact. His experiences open up exciting perspectives for creative learning environments and the combination of art, architecture and education.

About the artist:
Polish-born artist Maciej Markowicz is internationally renowned for his innovative approach to camera obscura photography. His work has been exhibited in galleries across Europe and North America and is held in both private and institutional collections.

Markowicz creates unique camera obscura images using eight-second exposures in his floating studio. With this working method, he transforms the ancient optical principle into contemporary, time-based art – and shows that a finite moment can conceal an infinite depth.