Afghan Box Camera Project, aka “Foxy Boxy” April-May 2019

The finished ABC. Note the peephole on the top of the box, through which it is possioble to view the development process. I turned the eyepiece on the lathe, but a small piece of UPV pipe would work just as well.

Introduction

It was my photographer friend Simon Riddell of srfilmphotography who first started me down the road of analogue photography, so it is fitting that it was Si who also introduced me to the concept of the Afghani Box Camera. I started with a Google search – I mean, what exactly is an Afghan box camera anyway? This led me to the Afghan Box Camera Project https://www.afghanboxcamera.com/ which has an excellent website that includes a guide to making and using the ABC, otherwise known as the Kamra-e-faoree. I won’t repeat information already ably covered by the project’s curators, Lukas Birk and Sean Birk Foley, although I would like to flag their excellent book Afghan Box Camera (dewi lewis publishing; ISBN 978-1-907893-36-0) which provides some beautiful examples of what the ABC can do.

Stripped down to its bare essentials, a camera is a beautifully simple device. A box, with a lens or pinhole, and something to capture the image, such as photographic paper or negative. The more I read into the history of photography, the more I am struck by the imaginative leaps in process, technique and chemistry. Experimenting with the ABC has also taught me a lot about the fundamentals of camera design. I’m also drawn to the DIY guerrilla-style photography that the ABC embodies. The Afghani is a camera and darkroom all-in-one, hence its large size, and shoots directly onto photographic paper. That’s it. That’s the basic principle.

Materials

Some research on different builds and the Afghan Box Camera Project downloadable build guide.

For my build I followed the project’s guidelines for overall dimensions, opting for a box 360x280x280mm. This is the smaller of the recommended build sizes. I used 18mm ply for the box, and 6mm ply for the lens board. I was able to purchase red Perspex from Ebay for the rear viewing panel, and used standard 10mm copper plumbing pipe (available from B&Q in the UK) for the sliding focusing mechanism. The ground glass I made myself from standard 7mm float (available from local glaziers) which I polished by hand. The focusing rods are two cheap aluminium fishing rod rests easily available on Ebay for around £4. I also used a welder’s sleeve (2 for £11 on Amazon) to add a little steampunk flavour. Brass corners, lid stay, hinges, bulldog clips and steel lens board was all procured either through ebay or my local art shop.I also purchased the following:

· 18mm ply for box (B&Q £30 for 1220mm x 2440mm sheet) B&Q can rip this down for you in the store to help get it in your car. MDF is much cheaper, but less attractive. If you’re going to paint your ABC, go for MDF.

· 1 x red Perspex viewing panel (ebay)

· 6 small 25mm butterfly hinges (ebay £4) – 4 for box, 2 for the rear viewing panel

· 2 x aluminium rod rests – to operate the focusing plate

· 1m 10mm copper pipe – to act as runners for the focusing plate

· 8 Brass corners (ebay approx. £10) – not essential, but a nice touch

· 1 x Tripod plate (ebay £11) – for mounting your camera on a sturdy tripod

· 2 x 7mm “float” glass (local glazing company, £6) I recommend buying a couple in case you scrap one

· 3mm steel plate for lens board (cheaper than aluminium but harder to cut). You can also use thin ply for the lens board which is much easier to work with, especially if you don’t have metal working kit

· 25mm wood screws

· 3 x basic takeaway containers for your chems

· 2 x strong clasps for the lid (ebay)

· Wood glue

· 1m length of 20mm x 35mm hardwood – for the rear viewing panel. I used walnut because I had some left over from another project.

· 300 x 70mm x 10mm ply for extension arm

· Block of 110mm x 40mm x 60mm hardwood for the extension arm mount

Tools

I have the added advantage of a fairly well-equipped home workshop, with a table saw, bandsaw, drill press and a host of hand as well as power tools, which made construction much easier. However, at a minimum you’ll need the following tools:

· Panel saw – for cutting the ply to size

· Coping saw with extra blades – for cutting openings in the box

· Forstner bits – these are a great investment, and very useful when cutting recesses in the ply, especially if you have a drill press

· Hand or electric drill

· A sharp chisel and mallet

· Tape measure

· 100 grit sandpaper

· Hand plane (optional but useful)

The total cost of the project was around £60, although I spent more on additional extras. To save money substitute ply for MDF, build the lid out of thinner material, use ply for the lens board, and don’t buy any optional extras. If you can beg, borrow or steal materials from friends and family, you could bring this together for next to nothing.

When it comes to lens, the cheapest option would be to make a simple pinhole. However, old large format lens and large format enlarger lens are the best option. You’ll also need a dark cloth to throw over you and the camera, but these can easily be made at home, or you could just use an old coat or something suitable large and light tight.

Construction Tips

Cut the holes for the rear vision panel, arm access, and lens before you glue and screw the box together. It is much easier to do this working with small individual pieces than trying to manoeuvre a box around.

To make the lid, the easier option is to glue and screw your box together as a seal unit, and then run around it with a thin saw. This way the lid is perfectly matched to the body. Be careful to mark a clear line and allow a little extra to avoid hitting any screws.

If you have a router, then you can cut rebates for the arm, although I found it much easier to use the Forstner bits since ply has a tendency to tear out. I used a jigsaw for the larger holes and tidied up by hand.

Allow extra room on the floor of the box to allow the focusing panel to pass over your chem trays with room to spare.

Don’t try to cut steel plate with a hole saw. I asked a friend to cut my copal 0 openings with a professional water jet, so unless you have access to that kind of kit I recommend aluminium or thin ply. The lens board only needs to hold the lens in place so don’t over think it.

Add a little candle wax to the copper pipes to help the focusing screen slide back and forth.

I recommend using two focusing rods (rod rests) since this makes for a much more fluid motion, whereas one rod has a tendency to feel a bit awkward.

The interior of the box. Note the copper sliders and focusing pate (minus the glass). Remember to leave sufficient room on the bottom to allow for the chem trays (takeaway containers)

The focusing glass/screen is a piece of standard glass polished by hand. There are many instructional videos on YouTube covering this process. Note also the placement of the focusing rods.

Peephole construction.

Construction of the sleeve. I cut 1" slits in the larger opening of the welder's sleeve with a craft knife and then glues and pinned it in place. I then made a simple MDF ring to cover the work. To work out of the size of the hole I stuffed the cuff with newspaper and took measurements.

To make the rear viewing panel I made a simple rebated frame from walnut, mitred at the corners like a picture frame. You can also see the dev trays inside the box.

The focusing glass/screen in action using an old LF lens. The image is upside down which is normal.

Lens board assembly using sketch board retaining clips to hold the board in place. I found it easier to make a separate lens mount from 5mm ply, recessed using forstner bits on my drill press.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed this build and look forward to making a another, hopefully more refined version of this, possibly for collodion wet plate photography. It is a heavy box, but I wanted it to look like the robust models used in Afghanistan. Since making it, I have shipped it to Simon up in Scotland as a gift, to see what amazing things he can do with it. I would say that anyone with a working knowledge of basic carpentry - how to use a saw, drill holes and wield a tape measure should be able to put this together without too much trouble, but I would advise making it as light as possible. The original Afghani boxes were often set up on a roadside to take ID photographs, so needed to be durable above all else. A travelling ABC would need to be much lighter, which is where thin materials are key. Watch this space for Mark II.