Primitive Photography : A Guide to Making Cameras, Lenses, and Calotypes

by Greene; Alan

• ISBN13: 9780240804613
• ISBN10: 0240804619
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-19
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

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.

Author Biography

Alan Greene is a photographer and teacher specializing in view-camera technique, black-and-white printing, and historical processes. His photographic work, dealing with themes like small-town life along the Mississippi and Wabash rivers, and images depicting the American Revolution, has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in both the United States and France. He has taught black-and-white photography, view-camera, and studio lighting courses at the university level. As a leader of workshops, he has taught pinhole photography and the construction of cameras and lenses. Presently, he is researching and writing about 19th century photographers and photographic processes

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
The Film-Holder	1	(36)
Determining the Format	2	(8)
Tools Needed	10	(1)
Materials Needed	11	(1)
The Wet-Paper Process Film-Holder	11	(13)
The Dry, Waxed-Paper Film-Holder	24	(10)
Ground-Glass Substitutes	34	(3)
The Camera Body	37	(44)
Tools Needed	40	(1)
Materials Needed	40	(1)
The Sliding Box-Camera	41	(22)
The Folding-Camera	63	(13)
Wood Joining Procedure	76	(5)
The Lens	81	(58)
Lens Configurations	81	(5)
Physical Properties	86	(13)
Tools Needed	99	(1)
Materials Needed	100	(1)
The Singlet, or Landscape Lens	100	(8)
The Symmetrical Duplet, or Periscopic Lens	108	(8)
The Asymmetrical Duplet, or Portrait Lens	116	(9)
The Symmetrical Triplet	125	(6)
Lens Boards and Lens Caps	131	(8)
Calotype Paper Negatives	139	(42)
Chemicals Needed	140	(1)
Materials Needed	141	(4)
The Wet-Paper Process	145	(25)
The Dry, Waxed-Paper Process	170	(11)
Salt Prints by Development	181	(30)
Chemicals Needed	184	(2)
Materials Needed	186	(3)
Salt Processes	189	(14)
The Serum Process	203	(8)
Appendix: Sources of Supplies	211	(4)
Bibliography	215	(4)
Index	219