Getting ready for another series of after school photography workshops at Hillsdale Prep. I want the kids to see an image appear in a tray of photo developer and have decided that the perfect tool for this is the Afghan Box Camera or kamra-e-faoree (for more information about Afghan Box Cameras go to… http://www.afghanboxcamera.com/abcp_about_bcp.htm).
It’s old technology – about a hundred years old. It’s a camera and a darkroom all in one box. Traditionally, the kamra-e-faoree has been used to make street portraits using paper negatives that are then re-photographed to create a black and white paper positive. My plan to is to take a portrait of each workshop participant and to invite them to peek in the viewing hole on the top of the box to see their portrait emerge on photo paper.
I made this cardboard prototype to make sure I understand how the kamra-e-faoree works. The next step is to build the same thing, but with wood so that it is light tight and sturdy.
