THE AFGHAN BOX CAMERA PROJECT AND DIY PROJECT

I recently came across this website about Afghan box cameras and I cannot get it out of my mind. These things are AMAZING, so I wanted to share this with you!

“As of June 2011 Afghanistan is one of the last places on earth where photographers continue to use a simple type of instant camera called the kamra-e-faoree for means of making a living. The hand-made wooden camera is both camera and darkroom in one and generations of Afghans have had their portraits taken with it, usually for identity photographs. At one stage it was even outlawed when former rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban, banned photography, forcing photographers to hide or destroy their tools.

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. […] The information we provide is based on a visit made to Afghanistan between April and June 2011 which focused on the capital Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, as well as on previous visits to the country and region over the years, and ongoing research.”

Lukas Birk (photographer) and Sean Foley (anthropologist) are trying to raise money to go back to Afghanistan and learn even more techniques and history behind these amazing box camera creations before they become a lost art. If you would like to donate, they have a Kickstart project open until March 31, 2012. Depending on how much you donate you get little gifts in return. They also share all of their information about these cameras on their website. You can find links to videos, a pdf on how to build your own camera, how to use the camera, techniques, tools, and all sort of photographs taken by these street photographers. Pretty awesome right?!

Above are examples of photos taken with box cameras, as well as some examples of decorated cameras from the streets. The colored photographs on the bottom are all hand painted.

So, if you are feeling ambitious, creative, and looking for yet another project to take on, consider building one of these yourself and testing it out! I am totally into it! I want to make my own, and hopefully recruit my grandpa to help me out this summer. That way we can use his tools and extra parts, because I know he has a whole shop full of stuff and scraps of weirdness laying around. I am bound to find enough to build one of these!! Seriously though, even if you don’t want to build a camera, this project is so inspiring and it proves that you don’t need a fancy camera to make amazing photos!

*All information and images for this post were from the Afghan Box Camera Project Website.