"Six photographer artists, Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh, and Clayton Spada plus approximately 400 assistants built the world's largest pinhole camera in building #115 at El Toro using 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) six mil black visqueen, 1,300 US gallons (4,900 l) of foam gap filler, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of 2-inch (5.1 cm) wide black Gorilla Tape and 40 US gallons (150 l) of black spray paint to make the hangar light-tight." (wikipedia)

"A seamless piece of muslin cloth was made light sensitive by coating it with 21 US gallons (80 l) of gelatin silver halide emulsion and then hung from the ceiling at a distance of about 80 feet (24 m) from a pinhole, just under 6 millimeters (0.24 in) in diameter and situated 15 feet (4.6 m) above ground level on the hangar's metal door. The distance between the pinhole and the cloth was determined to be 55 feet (17 m) for best coverage, and the exposure time was calculated at 35 minutes."

Photo:  Orthorectified positive (top) and negative (bottom) representations of the picture, partially obscured by two people. Pic: Rob Johnson for The Legacy Project

"The Great Picture is the largest photograph ever made. It’s a unique gelatin silver photographic image more than 31 feet high by 107 feet wide [9.58 x 32.74 meters]," the official website says.

"It’s a remarkable art object with photo history meaning and import that reaches far beyond mere size. The photograph was made using an abandoned fighter jet aircraft hangar in Southern California transformed into a gigantic camera obscura—the world’s largest camera. The Great Picture’s significance has been recognized worldwide in exhibitions, extensive press coverage, and a major book from fine art publishing house Hudson Hills Press, New York."

"The hangar-turned-camera recorded a panoramic image of what was on the other side of the door using the centuries-old principle of "camera obscura" or pinhole camera. An image of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station appeared upside down and flipped left to right on film after being projected through the tiny hole in the hangar's metal door.

The opaque negative image print was developed by 80 volunteers during five hours in a vinyl pool liner custom tray, the size of an Olympic swimming pool, with 600 US gallons (2,300 l) of traditional developer and 1,200 US gallons (4,500 l) of fixer pumped into the tray using high volume pumps. The photograph was then washed using fire hoses attached to two fire hydrants. The finished print is 111 feet (34 m) wide and 32 feet (9.8 m) high with an area of 3,505.75 sq ft (325.695 m2)."  (wikipedia)

Photo:  The artists and volunteers lift the uncoated Great Picture muslin into place in the hangar-as-camera. Author   Douglas McCulloh/The Legacy Project.

"The Great Picture" is a black and white panoramic print of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, an old military outpost. The print measures 111 feet wide by 32 feet high on seamless white muslin cloth, " the ABC News reports.

"The image was originally produced as part of the Legacy Project, a photographic and historical record of the base before being transformed into what is now the Orange County Great Park."

"That was the magic: seeing this image come to life in the tray," photographer Jacques Garnier said. "That made all the work worthwhile."

"The ambitious project was the latest by the group of shutterbugs who wanted to memorialize the Marine base before it was gone. The base was decommissioned in 1999 after more than a half-century of use. Developers plan to build a 375-acre park, museum district, sports complex and thousands of homes on the base, the NBC News reports.