by Akan Ido

The largest seamless photograph in the world has gone on display. The picture which measures 3,375 square foot in size – 31ft high and 107ft wide – shows an abandoned Marine Corps air station in Southern California, USA.

Known as ‘The Great Picture’, the massive image was created by six artists – Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh, and Clayton Spada – along with hundreds of volunteers.

 In order to capture the image the artists had to create the world’s largest camera which earned them a Guinness World Record.

A close up of the huge image which shows the abandoned military airbase Marine Corps Air STation El Toro in Irvine, Southern California. The black and white photo shows the control tower and runways at the base, with the San Joaquin Hills in the background

 Read the Daily Mail report below:

They transformed an abandoned fighter jet hanger into a giant pinhole camera – sealing the entire interior from outside light.

A pinhole just under a quarter-inch in diameter was then created between the hangar’s metal doors.

The end product showed the control towers and runways at the former Marine Corps Airstation in Irvine, California.

 

 

Seeing the bigger picture: The huge 3,375 sq ft image is hauled in to place by workmen as it dwarfs a full-sized aircraft in a giant hanger. Six artists and hundreds of assistants helped make a giant pinhole camera in an abandoned hanger to capture the image

 

 

 

The Great Picture was created in 2006 by six artists – Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh, and Clayton Spada – along with hundreds of volunteers

 

 

 

The true scale of the picture can be seen as it towers over a man and the fighter jet behind him. Artists transformed an abandoned fighter jet hanger into a giant pinhole camera to capture the image, sealing the entire interior from outside light

 

This ‘camera-obscura’ technique has been known for more than 2000 years.

The photograph, created in 2006, is currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia, USA until November.

Artist Douglas McCulloh said: ‘The Great Picture as a photograph is distinct from almost every photograph in the world.

‘It remains linked to, and an integral part of, both the camera and the place by containing the information of the place within it.

‘It also contains the process. You can’t look at it and not ask – what was the camera?’