Dianne Bos facts for kids

Dianne Bos is a Canadian photographer who has shown her amazing artwork all over the world since 1981. She is known for her unique way of taking pictures using special cameras she makes herself.

Bos was born in Dundas, Ontario, in 1956. She studied sculpture at Mount Allison University, which is a type of art where you create 3D objects.

What is a Pinhole Camera?

Dianne Bos creates many of her photographs using a homemade pinhole camera. This is a very simple camera that doesn't have a lens. Instead, it has a tiny hole, like a pinprick, that lets light in.

• How it works: Light passes through the small hole and creates an upside-down image inside the camera.
• Why she uses it: These pictures are not meant to be perfect copies of what she sees. Instead, they try to capture a feeling or a memory, almost like a dream.

Famous Pinhole Camera Art

In 2002, an exhibition of Bos's pinhole photographs called Son et Lumiére was shown at the Kamloops Art Gallery. This title means "Sound and Light" in French.

For her Galaxies series, Bos tried photographing different light sources through many tiny pinholes. One famous work from 2001, M51 by Candlelight, shows the Whirlpool Galaxy. She made this picture using a special aluminum plate camera with dozens of pinholes of different sizes. This artwork is now part of a special collection at the New Mexico History Museum.

In 2011, Bos made pinhole cameras out of old travel books for an exhibition in Toronto. People said her photos felt both calm and a little bit tense, like the first moments when you wake up and things are still a bit blurry.

Exhibitions and Collaborations

Dianne Bos has been part of many art shows. In 2007, she was in a group exhibition called Time & Space. This show traveled to several art galleries, including the Dunlop Art Gallery and the Owens Art Gallery.

A photograph Bos took in Toulouse, France, was used by a graphic designer named Jennifer Clark. Jennifer used Bos's photo to create a large wall painting called Timeless.

Music and Challenges

Besides being a photographer, Dianne Bos is also a talented keyboard player and singer. In 1986, she won an award called the CASBY Award for being the Most Promising Female Vocalist.

In June 2013, Dianne Bos faced a big challenge when her home in Bowness, Calgary, was flooded by the Bow River. She lost many important things, including her collection of homemade pinhole cameras, her darkroom (where she developed photos), her studio, and hundreds of her printed pictures.

Remembering History Through Art

Starting in 2014, Dianne Bos traveled to Belgium and France. She visited battle sites where Canadian soldiers fought in World War I. She took photographs of these places using her pinhole camera.

• The Sleeping Green: These powerful photographs were shown in a special exhibition called The Sleeping Green: No Man's Land 100 Years Later.
• Where it was shown: This exhibition was displayed at the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery and other museums and galleries, helping people remember the history of these important places.