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The Street Box Camera is a handmade wooden camera. It is both a camera and a darkroom in one. This type of camera has been given a variety of names and has different origins and uses depending on the geographic location.



Etymology
The term street box camera or box camera incorporates a variety cameras that all function in similar fashion. The name this tool has been given varies from country to country. Afghan Box Camera or Kamra-e-Faoree have been used in Afghanistan amongst others. In the Spanish speaking world it is mostly referred to as Camera Minuteros or Minutera. In Brazil the camera is known as Lambe Lambe (lick lick). In Cuba the camera has been referred to as Cuban Polaroid. In India it is widely know as Minute Camera and in Pakistan as Ruh Khitch (spirit pulling). Although Minutera is used in Mexico it is also called Foto Agüita in some areas.

History
Street Box Cameras have been used in many countries around the world as early as 1890. The camera is a descendent of the Ferrotype, which itinerant photographers used to create memory photographs, especially in Europe and the Americas. . Early cameras produced in the United States of America included the Mandel-ette and Daydark. The camera had been adapted by photographers and carpenters, and homemade versions of the camera spread from urban centres to more rural communities.

The camera saw its most popular times in Europe and Northern America between World War I and World War II. The 1950s saw a steady decline due to cheaply available role film and other forms of instant photography.

In regions with less economic prosperity the Street Box Camera remained a constant attraction for tourists as it offered a cheaply and instantly available souvenir of a day in the park or beach. The photos were developed right away and the picture was ready within a couple of minutes. That is why the camera was referred to as Minute or Minuteros camera. Many of these street photographers had a fixed spot outdoors near a touristic attraction.

Technical details
There are essentially two different types of Street Box Cameras, those with external focus or internal focus. External focus cameras are usually produced with an old commercial bellows camera. The bellows are attached to a the box and can be pushed and pulled in order to focus. An internal focus requires more skill and have often been produced by carpenters.

Both versions of the camera have a sanded glass inside the box onto which the images is projected. Once the the focus has been set, a sheet of photographic paper is placed onto the focusing plate for exposure. Depending on the camera the shutter will be pressed or lens cap lifted to make an exposure. The image will be developed directly in the camera. Usually to trays of photographic chemicals (fix and develop) are placed in the back of the camera. Once developed and fixed the negative image will be rinsed with water and re-photographed in front of the camera on a holder. The final result is a positive image.

Afghan Box Camera
The terms Afghan Box Camera or Kamra-e-faoree (دوربین فوری) meaning Instant Camera in Dari (a variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan), were coined and

popularized by Lukas Birk and Sean Foley through their research for their Afghan Box Camera Project. This type of camera was widely used in Afghanistan from the 1950s till 2010 and the advent of digital photography.

There is evidence that the box camera moved from the Indian subcontinent to Afghanistan as early as 1930. The 1950s saw a marked increase in the usage of box cameras due to the government’s introduction of photographic identity cards (taskira). This required an increase of cameras and photographers to meet the need. The ruler at the time, Zahir Shah, commissioned two entrepreneurs, Afandi and Ahmadin Taufiq, to train photographers and document the male Afghan population for the first time. A carpenter named Ali Ahmad produced a camera model that had been used by dozen of photographers and spread it to the smallest villages in Afghanistan.

As other forms of photography were expensive, the box camera remained the camera of choice for most citizens until the commercialization of digital photography after the American invasion in 2001. The camera was also in use during Afghanistan’s civil war period and the reign of the Taliban. Although the Taliban did initially ban photography, they later allowed black and white headshots of men for identification purposes. The camera was primarily produced by carpenters but was easily adapted by photographers to their needs. The camera uses photographic paper to produce a negative. The negative gets re-photographed on a holder in the front of the box. The photograph of the negative turns into a positive. The box camera was used in Afghanistan primarily to create ID photographs. It served as a cheap alternative to studio photography and was in many areas the only type of camera available.

Camera Minutera
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Current use
The usage of street box cameras has declined in most regions of the world with the 1970s and 1980s. In countries like Afghanistan it prolonged until 2001 as it was an economic way of creating passport photographs. The Spanish speaking world, especially Argentina and Spain have seen a handful of practitioners in tourist areas like Barcelona and Buenos Aires with a handful of street box camera photographers in smaller town.

Apart form old time street box camera photographers there has been a small revival in recent years. Partly to slow rise of counter digital culture and initiatives like the Afghan Box Camera Project and the strong media attention. Lukas Birk and Sean Foley released an open-source online manual, on how to build a camera that has inspired many photographers globally to continue this tradition.



Publications

 * Afghan Box Camera, Lukas Birk & Sean Foley. Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907893-36-0
 * Smudgers, Chris Wroblewski, Selfpublished, 2003.
 * Photographes de Rue. Street photographers. Minuteros, Ghnassia, Patrick, Zilmo de Freitas. Mialet, Katar press, 2003.
 * 2 MISSISSIPPI, Hans Zeeldieb. Edition Le Mulet, 2019.
 * Los Ambulantes: The Itinerant Photographers of Guatemala, Avon Neal & Ann Parker, The MIT Press, 1984. ISBN 978-0262660532