I came across Lucas Birk and Sean Foley’s Afghan Box Camera project a few years ago when a friend, Maurício, took an interest. As a result, he made two cameras of his own and even featured in a book about the subject. I’ve always liked the idea of making a street box camera, but I have never found the time. Maurício now lives in São Paulo, Brazil, so it’s not like I could easily pop round to have a look!
Last year, another good friend sent me a link to Lucas Birk’s latest project, selling box camera kits. The kits look great, but I couldn’t shake off the urge to make my own camera. Since then, I haven’t been in the best of health, and so the build was postponed again.
The one good thing about being unwell is that it has prompted my early retirement – although, being honest, it didn’t take much prompting. So, two weeks from writing this (eek), even if I only work on it a few hours a week, I won’t have a lack of time as an excuse.
I want to reflect the spirit in which many of these cameras were originally built. So, I aim to build it as economically as I can and, where possible, use materials that I already have cluttering up my workshop.
Although a lovely Fujinon large-format lens would be a delight, I’ve settled on this slightly beaten-up Rodenstock Ysaron 150mm f4.5 enlarger lens that I managed to pick up for £19 on eBay. It’s not that different from the Soviet Industar enlarger lenses that were popular with Afghan photographers.
I’ve spent a few weeks researching, sketching in my notebook and reacquainting myself with SketchUp. I’m ready to start building the box itself; I think I have all the wood I’ll need. My aim is to be able to shoot up to 6×4 inch paper-negatives in portrait and landscape format.
I’ll list the materials I use as I go along; it may be useful to someone. Although I’m using most of them because I already have them on hand, not because they’re necessarily perfect for the job.
Apart from gathering these few bits and sorting out the wood, I haven’t done much. Hopefully, next time there’ll be some physical progress to show.
What I’ve Spent So Far
| what | cost | where |
|---|---|---|
| Rodenstock Ysaron 150mm f4.5 enlarger lens | £19.00 | eBay |
| 3mm clear Perspex (ground ‘glass’) | £2.65 | Perspexsheet.uk |
| 3mm red Perspex ( red ‘safelight’ window) | £3.51 | Perspexsheet.uk |
| Hinges for the lid | £4.90 | Local hardware shop |
If you’ve built your own box camera, I’d love to hear from you.