Pixiq

ABOVE  IMAGE - BEN SHAHN:  ITINERANT PHOTOGRAPHER IN COLUMBUS, OHIO.  1938.  (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION/OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION COLLECTION.)

I remember when I was very young, seeing these contraptions on the street. Most of the ones I encountered were in tourist places. With all of their accoutrements the itinerant photographer looked like a one-man band. I remember the huge Boxy camera with its, smallish lens, precariously sitting on top of a wooden tripod, the buckets and bottles of developer. The cameras with a display of portraits on its sides and a painted sign announced that one could have their image made by this device. It was a unique exhibit of makeshift ingenuity. And like the many craftsmen of the street, the itinerant photographer is becoming extinct.

The photographer usually made a portrait on photo paper, which was developed inside the camera. As soon as the image was processed, the camera was used to copy the negative print, which produced a final positive likeness of the sitter, which again was processed inside the camera. From capture to final product, the whole process took only minutes.

To make this possible, the photographers usually designed and built their own boxes that had a system of trays and some simple home brewed mechanical means for processing. In most cases the devices were crude and cumbersome. Yet the images were in many cases wonderful likenesses of their sitters.

Once, this was a means of making a living for many photographers throughout the world. While it has been a dying breed, it is still a viable profession for many in such places as India, China, Mexico, Cuba and Afghanistan.

Afghan Box Camera Project

Afghan Box Camera Project | Facebook

Afghanistan project aims to keep the art of the wooden camera alive ...

"The aim of the Afghan Box Camera Project is to provide a record of the kamra-e-faoree which as a living form of photography is on the brink of disappearing in Afghanistan. To this end you will find instructions on how to use and build a kamra-e-faoree, general background information on the camera and photography in Afghanistan, a variety of photo-galleries andphotographer portfolios, and links to resources – as well a big thank you to all of those kind folk who helped us along the way. We also delve just a little into large format photography in Afghanistan and hand-coloured portraits."

 

CONTINUED…

A street portraitist's camera