DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This photographer in Afghanistan is still making pictures with a 100-year-old box camera

Dec 7, 2020 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

It always seems to be a race these days for photographers to get newer and better gear. They feel it will make them into a better photographer or produce better images. But the reality is that more often than not, it won’t. And it’s perfectly possible to create great images with older equipment, as Afghan photographer Haji Meerzaman is still proving on a regular basis.

Haji still shoots with a box camera he’s been using for 65 years. A box camera that was already at least 35 years old when he got it. It’s a fascinating piece of kit that’s essentially an entire camera and darkroom in a box. Travel YouTuber Drew Binsky was visiting Afghanistan and got to visit Haji and have his portrait taken using this camera.

The process has changed little over the years for this type of camera. You point it towards your subject like any other and expose photosensitive paper inside the camera to the scene before it. The chemicals to develop the paper are contained within the box and the photographer moves the paper from its frame in front of the lens into the chemicals in darkness, through holes in the side of the box.

There was a slight change during Drew’s shoot from the original techniques that would have been used a few decades ago, though. The final result coming out of the camera in this instance is a paper negative. But instead of photographing that paper negative with the camera again to produce a positive, it was scanned in at the local camera store, inverted and printed out there. And the result looks pretty awesome.

Cameras used to be described as simply a box with a hole in it, and I don’t think anything exemplifies this description more closely than this one.

[via Reddit]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

NPR Photographer David Gilkey killed in Afghanistan in Taliban ambush Movie Depicts The Battle Of Keeping Photography Legal In Afghanistan & Why Some Worry It Won’t Last Danish Siddiqui, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, was killed in Afghanistan Default ThumbnailCreate Wonderful Digital Pinhole Pictures Using a Tobacco Box

Filed Under: news Tagged With: Afghanistan, Box Camera, Haji Meerzaman, old cameras

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Sigma rumoured to expand their lens line up to Nikon Z and Canon RF mounts in 2021
New Google Photos storage rules could delete your Gmail and Google Drive files too »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Sony teases upcoming ZV-E1 full-frame vlogging camera coming on March 29
  • The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 is silent, glare-free retouching tablet
  • Fall in love with astrophotography with these 10 space objects
  • Hipstamatic app relaunches as a social network, but only for iOS
  • Instagram now has ads even in search results. Sigh

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy