Recognized as an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, book designer and publisher, Bill Wittliff was an equally talented photographer. Often he utilized less conventional approaches of photography capturing images with pinhole cameras and a unique solargraphic technique. 

Through his handmade cameras that employed a simple box with a tiny hole as a lens which directed light onto photographic emulsion, he created his series La Vida Brinca. These dream-like images recorded Hispanic life including fiestas, religious observations, street scenes, as well as portraits and landscapes. Similarly, his solargraphs were created on his Plum Creek Ranch in central Texas. This process utilized a tiny hole in the side of an empty beer can or PVC pipe that directed light to a small piece of photographic paper placed inside. The cylinder was then affixed to fence posts, trees, or other objects for an average period of six months. Surviving wild animals and acts of nature over the long exposure, an image of the landscape and sun's arc was slowly recorded on the photo paper. The resulting images are surprisingly abstract and beautiful recordings of both time and space. 

BILL WITTLIFF: Swallowed Light is generously supported by Melinda & Henry Musselman, with additional funding from John R. Caldwell, John & Ginger Dudley, Betsy Senter, Lynne & Cliff Teinert, and Bill Wright.