Here he is. His name is Wayne Belger. He was born Feb 11 1964 in Pasadena California. His parents were both Catholic, though not too strict judging by Wayne's outrageous eccentricity. Wayne has been very experimental and an explorer most his life. Besides art and music and photography, he has been quite sporty and engaged in activities such as rock climbing, hockey, and scuba diving. Belger was even a mascot for a time for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings. He has worked many other random pursuits, including machinist..which has helped him build homemade cameras to take his pictures with.
It seems he has focused on photography prominently. His whole shtick involves a quite literal and uninhibited interpretation of the subject of a photo, and as close of a connection to the subject as possible. This means in plain English a few things. First of all, he primarily uses pinhole cameras, with no lenses or digital circuits or anything of that sort between film and subject...just open air and pure light. Second of all, this means instead of using any old camera, he custom builds many cameras according to the task at hand. The camera will have some special connection or relationship with the subject, so the photos can come through in a more identified way. Below is a diagram of Belger's cameras, and then a description of each one:
- HIV-Made mostly of metal and has HIV positive blood encased within. The blood itself acts as a red filter. Apparently he got an HIV positive friend to donate the blood. Purpose of camera is to capture people who suffer from HIV.
- HEART-As with the HIV camera, this is made mostly of metal, though instead of blood it contains a baby human heart preserved in formaldehyde (once again don't ask how he procured this!) It is meant to capture pregnant ladies at least 8 months pregnant, and to explore Belger's relationship with his twin brother, who died at birth.
- DRAGONFLY-Made of metal, acrylic, insects, and other materials. It is an 'altar for a 9 year old girl that passed away'. Photos taken with this seem to be of children and/or in exotic locales like India.
- 9/11 CAMERA- Also known as the 'Sons of Abraham' camera, this is made of aircraft aluminum, pieces of the Torah, Koran, and Bible, and a piece of the World Trade Center. It is used to photograph religious leaders of the Abrahamic tradition standing in front of their places of worship.
- WOOD-Yes indeed it is made of wood and also some metal and insects and the like. Most pieces for its construction were found in Death Valley. It has interchangeable filter plates that hold insects or leaves or whatnot. So you may see butterfly superimposed over a landscape image, in example. This camera is used to study distance, and nature I suppose.
- YEMAYA- Also known as the 'Underwater' camera, Yemaya is the goddess of the ocean in the Santeria belief system. This waterproof cam is made of acrylic,brass, aluminum, pearls, and sea creatures. Used to take, duh, underwater photos.
- 3rd EYE-My favorite perhaps. This is a 150 year old skull (where does he get this stuff?!) with a metal cross medallion encrusted with gemstones placed on the forehead where the 'third eye' is said to reside in us (a psychic 'eye' that gives us higher sight). The pinhole is dead center of the medallion so the photos are captured by the third eye. Used to photograph...I dunno, random trippy shit?
- YAMA- The Tibetan Lord of Death (named for). Likely the priciest and most extravagant of Belger's cameras. Another skull cam- with eyes of bronze , silver, and brass. The skull is adorned with titanium, gold, mercury, sand, blood, turquoise, ruby, sapphire, and opal. In Belger's words "Designed for two photo series. First series is of my interpretation of the modern incarnation of Southeast Asian deities. Second will take place in the Tibetan refugee cities of India, a home coming through the eyes of a 500 year old Tibetan."
- DEER-Created from an 18th Century ivory Christ carving, pieces of old bullets (some as old as the 1800's), antlers, and more. The purpose of this camera is to shoot subjects that explore the ritual of hunting, and man's arrogant separation from nature.
- CLASSIC-Made from rusty old metal and Turn-of-the-Century Cameos. Made to shoot natural settings under the passage of time (it appears that way anyhow).
- ALTAR-A.K.A. 'Roadside Altar' camera. Used to shoot, you guessed it, roadside altars (usually where car crashes have occurred). Mainly made of metal.
So there it is, a closer look at the methology of Belger's wacky work. Now, for an even closer look, let us see some actual photos!
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| 'Bloodworks 3'. Taken with HIV camera. Gelatin silver print stained with prickly pear black tea. |
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| 'Our Lady of Sorrows'. Taken with the Heart cam. One of my favorites, very surreal! |
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| No title. Taken with Classic cam. |
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| No title. Taken with Classic cam. Nice seat! |
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| No title. Taken with Classic cam. |
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| No title. Taken with Classic cam. Very mystical. |
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| 'Two Hearts'. Taken with Third Eye cam. |
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| 'Taj Mahal'. Taken with Dragonfly cam. |
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| 'Rylee'. Taken with Dragonfly cam. Toned gelatin silver print painted with prickly pear black tea. |
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| 'Kali' (Hindu goddess of destruction). Yama camera. Stained with prickly pear black tea on gelatin silver. |
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| Untitled. Roadside cam. |
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| Untitled. Roadside cam 2. |
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| Untitled. Roadside cam 3. |
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| Untitled. Roadside cam 4. |
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| 'Cervusephalus (Elk + Two Wolves) series 2/18'. Toned gelatin silver + cactus tea stained w/ metal frame. Taken with Deer cam. |
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| Taken with Wood cam. |
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| 'The Valiant'. Subject is a sunken ship. Taken off coast of Catalina Island at a depth of 105 ft. First photo taken with Yemaya cam, with an exposure of one and a half hours. |
Wayne Belger's website was once 'Boy of Blue Industries' at boyofblue.com but it appear the site has moved and there's some weird porn site in it's wake (hah). I dunno, just search him up! Give him some respect and love!
