Welcome to The Pinhole Project, a community photography project and online archive dedicated to making pinhole photography accessible to everyone. Founded in 2013 by photographer and educator Janet Neuhauser, the project invites people of all ages and experience levels to create photographs using simple handmade cameras and long exposures. Following Janet’s passing in March 2026, photographer Jenny Riffle has taken over The Pinhole Project and is honored to continue Janet’s vision of sharing the magic of pinhole photography with anyone who wants to give it a try.
Janet was a photographer and beloved photography educator for more than 30 years. She began The Pinhole Project while teaching at Bainbridge High School in Washington State, originally as a way to introduce her digital photography students to traditional photographic processes without needing a darkroom. What started as a classroom experiment grew into a worldwide community project, with thousands of images created by participants over the years. Today, the archive includes an extensive collection of photographs made by generations of Bainbridge High School students, alongside work contributed by people from around the world.
All of the images on this website have been made by a variety of enthusiasts using a variety of cameras. Each image is shot in a homemade metal tin and exposed outside for at least a week, sometimes as long as a year or even two. Enjoy the beautiful colors, the arc of the sun as it crosses the sky (aka the sun trail), and idiosyncratic long-exposure pinhole images of all types. Enjoy, as well, the happy accidents all over the place.
The images here have been placed on various gallery pages; use the search box on this page to find an image you are interested in.
Be sure to check out the NEWS page for pinhole news of all kinds.
To find your image, type your name into the search block on the home page and the image(s) should appear. Good luck! We’re happy to help. Go to the Contact page and send us your questions.
Double exposure pinhole image of Jenny Riffle by Janet Neuhauser.
LIKENESS: Self-Portraits by Janet Neuhauser
Photography Book by Janet Neuhauser
Janet Neuhauser was a photographer’s photographer. Her absolute delight in the medium and its endless possibilities of creative expression is on full display through her three-decade practice of self-portraiture. From 8x10 and 4x5 film through Polaroids, pinhole, and digital exposure, and then a dazzling array of darkroom papers and alt process techniques, Neuhauser probes the visual and psychological in her persistent studies of self.
Shortly after retiring from teaching, Janet was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), and for the last few years bravely endured the effects of this disease. She died March 7, 2026.