Originally conceived as a means to "photographic self-sufficiency" -the ability to make photographs completely from scratch, author and photographer Alan Greene has written an impressive guide to making cameras, lenses, and calotypes that will be invaluable to students of mid-19th century photographic technique and any photographers who would like to discover new ways of seeing and photographing the world around them. The book consists of five chapters: "The Film Holder", "The Camera Body", "The Lens", "Calotype Paper Negatives", and "Salt Prints by Development". Each chapter provides detailed step-by-step instructions on how to make these items, along with lists of the tools and materials needed, and some historical background. Instructions are accompanied by detailed diagrams where appropriate and sometimes by photographs illustrating the procedure. Most of the necessary materials may be found at hardware and art supply stores, although you will have to get some chemicals, lens elements and a contact printing frame elsewhere. There is a list of sources for supplies in the back of the book, as well as a bibliography that may interest photographic historians, and an index.
Chapter 1, "The Film Holder", is dedicated to making film holders and focusing screens. Instructions are given for two sizes, one that is intended for wet paper negatives and one for dry negatives. You may choose to make the holders in a different size, however. Supplementary measurements are provided for those wishing to construct a film holder for use in a modern 8x10 view camera, so you won't have to do the conversions yourself.
Chapter 2, "The Camera Body", is dedicated to making two types of cameras: a sliding box camera for use with wet or dry negatives and a collapsible folding camera for use with dry negatives only. (The collapsible camera is meant to be portable, and wet negatives aren't ideal for hauling around, as they don't stay wet for long.)
Chapter 3, "The Lens", is dedicated to making 4 types of lenses: the singlet (landscape lens), the symmetrical duplet (periscopic lens), the asymmetrical duplet (portrait lens), and the symmetrical triplet. These lenses may be used with a modern view camera by substituting the appropriate lens board. Instructions for making lens boards for both cameras from the previous chapter are provided. This chapter also does a nice job of explaining the basics of simple, combined, and compound lenses and the properties of lenses in general: focal length, angle of view, circle of illumination, aperture, transmittance, and various types of aberration.
Chapter 4, "Calotype Paper Negatives", is dedicated to 2 types of paper negatives: wet-paper process and waxed-paper process. Wet-paper is considered most appropriate for portraiture because the negatives must be used quickly after sensitizing, before they dry out. Waxed-paper requires longer exposures but is dry and need not be used quickly. These negatives are suited to landscape, architecture, and anything that requires time to locate. There are lists of recommended papers for both processes. Step-by-step instructions take the reader through Iodizing, Sensitizing, Exposing, Developing, and Waxing the negatives. You can choose from several recipes for Iodizing and Sensitizing solutions.
Chapter 5, "Salt Prints by Development", is dedicated to making prints. The author has chosen to give instructions for making prints "by development", which is a combined chemical and sunlight procedure, because those prints are faster, less expensive, offer more contrast control, and are more stable than prints made with sunlight alone. There is a list of recommended papers. Instructions are given for both Immersion and Floatation Starch-sizing procedures, Salting, Sensitizing, Exposing, and Developing the print. Greene has also included instructions for The Serum Process, which uses whey instead of salt, including directions for how to make the whey from milk.
"Primitive Photography: A Guide to Making Cameras, Lenses, and Calotypes" is a terrific manual for mid-19th century printing processes. I love the digital darkroom, but I find the basics of image capture and camera construction fascinating. To say that building the equipment in this book or making calotypes is a lot of trouble would be an understatement. But being so directly involved in creating an image on paper has an appeal, at least from time-to-time, that pressing a shutter button on an impressive piece of 21st century technology does not. "Primitive Photography" provides some interesting alternative ways to see the world and to capture it.
