What is the camera and what is this guy doing with it?

[Bill Poole]

Knowing that I am a large format photographer, a friend gave me an old family print that she thought would be of interest. I scanned the tiny print to get an enlargement, did a little bit of cleanup in PS, and became very puzzled when I got a look at the camera. The photographer seems to have his hand plunged into the dark sleeve at the rear of the thing. Is anyone familiar with the gear? I think my friend would be interested if I could get an answer. I am guessing that is her mother in the photo, which probably puts it in the 1940s, although the camera looks older than that. Any help would be welcome.

There's a larger version on the photo on my website. Mouse over the image and select "Original

http://www.poolephotography.com/Public-Galleries/5X7-B/14894307_M7Skwp#!i=2320217899&k=DGbMqQ3

Bill

http://www.poolephotography.com/Public-Galleries/5X7-B/i-DGbMqQ3/0/X3/for%20barbara-X3.jpg

[Jon Shiu]

There is a little darkroom in the back of the camera and he can process the photo for the tourists. I believe there are a few still in use, maybe in India or maybe Afghanistan.
Jon

[Steven Tribe]

You can also see cloths for drying his hands and what looks like a frame with completed (small) images on the right of the camera body.

[Bill Poole]

All new to ey, guys. Man with Polaroid machine. Thanks for the quick answers. Bill

[Cor]

Maybe I can quote (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?67630-Are-there-any-Polaroid-like-positive-alternatives-for-8x10-or-larger&p=638172&viewfull=1#post638172) an earlier post of me on this..

Best,

Cor

[JoeV]

Check out The Cuban Polaroid and the Afghanistan Project, both involving these street photographers and their cameras, which are locally-built wooden boxes with a bellows and lens/shutter from an old folder attached to one end, and a cloth sleeve for access. There's an area for storing little rectangles of photo paper, and little trays of developer and fixer.

In use the photographer opens a door on the rear and composes the portrait subject against a little removable ground glass in the camera, then closes the door, inserts his arm in the sleeve, moves the view screen out of the way, opens the storage box of paper, affixes a negative in place, makes the exposure, then processes the negative. Most of these boxes have a viewing window of red plastic or glass in the top, where they can develop by inspection.

When the negative is done, it's removed and washed in a bucket of water, then placed in front of the lens on a little fold up easel and rephotographed using the same method. The result are little b/w portraits, often used for official picture documents, but also as a tourist attraction.

I've heard there are a few people trying to do this as an art project here in the so-called 1st world. Myself, I've built a portable darkroom glove box where I can process 4x5 paper negatives, a bit larger than these little wallet-sized portraits typically done, but mine does not incorporate a camera built into the box.

~Joe

PS:
Here's (http://vimeo.com/1771395) a Vimeo video on the subject.
Here's (http://blog.makezine.com/2010/06/07/cuban-polaroid-is-ultra-low-tech-ca/) a Make Magazine article.
Another article (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2012/05/11/instant-wooden-box-cameras-from-cuban-polaroid-to-the-afghan-kamra-e-faoree).
Someone's project here (http://goodephotography.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/in-the-making-an-afghan-box-camera-aka-the-cuban-polaroid/).

[Sevo]

When the negative is done, it's removed and washed in a bucket of water, then placed in front of the lens on a little fold up easel and rephotographed using the same method. The result are little b/w portraits, often used for official picture documents, but also as a tourist attraction.


That is the eighties/nineties third world way of doing it. The photographer in the picture starting the thread will almost certainly have used tintype and a industrially made camera - cameras were often lent as part of a franchise that forced the itinerary photographers to buy their supplies (tintype sheet, chemicals and frames) from the franchising company. The first time I ran across something similar in India in the eighties, these guys were still using tintypes as well (but the Indian tintype raws manufacturers seem to have been down to one and supplies already limited to part of the country).

[Bill Poole]

Fascinating. Thanks so much for the info, folks.

[scm]

HOW TO USE A KAMRA-E-FAOREE (http://www.afghanboxcamera.com/abcp_camera_howtouse.htm)

[John Jarosz]

There were photographers developing paper negs and re-photographing them, processing the final prints all on the street in Tijuana back in the 70's when I first visited. Heck, maybe they're still doing it.

[coisasdavida]

These photographers were very popular in Brazil and Portugal once.

Last year I built a camera based on that design and used it to make portraits of people during an art festival here in São Paulo along with colleague Penna Prearo.

Here are some images of this:

http://rxdcc.art.br/