I became interested in the camera lucida while researching Ingres's great body of portrait drawings. David Hockney suggests in Secret Knowledge that Ingres perhaps used a camera lucida to make the drawings. After receiving a University of Georgia Center for Arts and Humanities Grant, I purchased a camera lucida and paid students, faculty and community members to sit for me. The drawings took between 40 minutes and an hour. I found that the camera lucida allowed me to make highly accurate likenesses on a very small intimate scale. I used toned paper as a middle value, drew with very sharp graphite, and worked white acrylic paint into the drawing to add a layer of depth. The light was set up to imitate 19th century daguereotypes. I continued to draw portraits after the grant ran out and have accumulated over 100.

To see more of Hooper's work click here to visit his website http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooperturner/