Kickstarter Pick: Afghan Box Camera Project

Last year Lukas Birk and Sean Foley's Kickstarter campaign made it possible for them to travel to Afghanistan for six weeks to document the dying art of box camera photography, a kind of instant photograph created in a handmade wooden box that acts as both a camera and a dark room. According to Foley and Birk, Afghanistan is one of the last places on earth where box camera photography is still practiced, but it's quickly dwindling. Worse, it's never been properly documented. 

Foley and Birk have made some basic information on the history and practice of box cameras available on their site, and they've even inspired more modern photographers to build box cameras of their own, but the most exciting news in their project so far is a new publishing deal to properly document Afghan box cameras and spread the word. To do this they need to go back to Afghanistan to deepen their research and cover more ground. Their new Kickstarter campaign asks for a meager $9,800 to pay for basic travel expenses like plane tickets, ground transport, translators and lodging for another six-week stint. They're very close to reaching their goal, and are offering some great incentives for you to pitch in, like signed copies of their upcoming book, original box camera photographs and even a box camera for your very own.

Meanwhile, peruse some of of 3rd Ward's photography classes, including Alternative Photographic Processes: The Four Color Gum Print and Cyanotype.

-- Perrin Drumm