Primitive photography : a guide to making cameras, lenses, and calotypes / Alan Greene.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greene, Alan, 1963-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Photography--Equipment and supplies--Design and construction.

Photography.

Photography--Equipment and supplies.

Physical Description:

xvi, 224 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Focal Press, [2002]

Summary:

Primitive Photography considers the hand-made photographic process in its entirety, showing the reader how to make box-cameras, lenses, paper negatives and salt prints, using inexpensive tools and materials found in most hardware and art-supply stores. Step-by-step procedures are presented alongside theoretical explanations and historical background. Streamlined calotype procedures are demonstrated, featuring different paper negative processes and overlooked, developing-out printing methods.

Primitive Photography combines the simplicity of pinhole photography, the handmade quality of alternative processes, and the precision of large-format. For those seeking alternatives to commercially prepared material as well as digital photography, it provides the instructions for creating the entire photographic process from the ground up. Given its scope and treatment of the photographic process as a whole, this may be the first book of its kind to appear in over a century. Step-by-step directions for building cameras and lensesHighly illustrated with over 135 black and white color illustrations Includes suggested reading lists, sources for supplies, and safety tips

Contents:

1 The Film-Holder 1

Determining the Format 2

Tools Needed 10

Materials Needed 11

The Wet-Paper Process Film-Holder 11

The Dry, Waxed-Paper Film-Holder 24

Ground-Glass Substitutes 34

2 The Camera Body 37

Tools Needed 40

Materials Needed 40

The Sliding Box-Camera 41

The Folding-Camera 63

Wood Joining Procedure 76

3 The Lens 81

Lens Configurations 81

Physical Properties 86

Tools Needed 99

Materials Needed 100

The Singlet, or Landscape Lens 100

The Symmetrical Duplet, or Periscopic Lens 108

The Asymmetrical Duplet, or Portrait Lens 116

The Symmetrical Triplet 125

Lens Boards and Lens Caps 131

4 Calotype Paper Negatives 139

Chemicals Needed 140

Materials Needed 141

The Wet-Paper Process 145

The Dry, Waxed-Paper Process 170

5 Salt Prints by Development 181

Chemicals Needed 184

Materials Needed 186

Salt Processes 189

The Serum Process 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-217) and index.

ISBN:

0240804619

OCLC:

47092056