A Camera Made of Blood and Copper

Wayne Martin Belger is a freaky pinhole photographer who makes cameras out of titanium, brass, wood, glass, human skulls, human organs, formaldehyde, HIV positive blood, and other relics that are tools of what he calls "the horrors of creation and the beauty of decay." Pictured above is a creation of his called The Untouchable, a 4x5 inch camera made of aluminum, copper, titanium, acrylic, and HIV positive blood. The blood acts as a red filter by pumping through the camera to the front of the pinhole.

Belger's cameras serve a greater function than just taking photographs; in fact, they are always part of the bigger picture. Each of his cameras has a destiny. For example, this one is destined to document a geographic comparison of people with HIV. We think he's onto something—photography of the future may very well warrant a deeper connection with its subjects.

Keep reading for a couple more examples.

This one's called the 9/11 Camera, designed to capture images of religious figures. It's another 4x5 camera, made of T6 aircraft aluminum, plus pages from the Bible, the Koran, and the Torah. The piece of metal with the pinhole that you see in the front is part of a support beam that was holding up the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

The Third Eye Camera is made with a 150 year old skull of a 13 year old girl, and intended to photograph the beauty of decay. He drilled a hole in her third eye for two reasons: as a medium for film exposure, and as a symbolic way of letting light and time into her head. Morbid? Maybe, but to pay his respects, he embedded pieces of silver with gemstones into her forehead. Images by Wayne Martin Belger