The Great Picture

The project used the abandoned F-18 hangar #115 at the closed fighter base in Irvine, California, United States, as the world's largest pinhole camera.

The aim was to make a black-and-white negative print of the Marine Corps air station with its control tower and runways, with the San Joaquin Hills in the background.

The photograph was unveiled on July 12, 2006, during a reception held in the hangar and was exhibited for the first time at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, on September 6, 2007.

[2][3] Six photographer artists, Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh, and Clayton Spada plus approximately 400 assistants built the world's largest pinhole camera in building #115 at El Toro using 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) six mil black visqueen, 1,300 US gallons (4,900 L) of foam gap filler, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of 2-inch (5.1 cm) wide black Gorilla Tape and 40 US gallons (150 L) of black spray paint to make the hangar light-tight.

An image of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station appeared upside down and flipped left to right on film after being projected through the tiny hole in the hangar's metal door.

The Great Picture in its pinhole camera hangar.
Orthorectified negative (top) and positive (bottom) representations of the photograph, partially obscured by two people.
Volunteers lift the muslin cloth into place. [ 4 ]
The Great Picture was washed using fire hydrants.
A long-exposure of The Great Picture being developed.