It isn't often one finds a photo book that featuring pictures taken exclusively with a box camera, but by chance I came upon these two volumes by C. T. Goode [Charles Tony Goode] and thought they were worth sharing. If you Google this name it will become clear that the author's real passion is railways as he published a number of books on the subject between the 70s and the 90s.
Volume 1, published in 1988, is called Railway Rambles with a Box Camera and in the short and entertaining intro Goode writes:
As far as I am aware, I think that I should be the first photographer to admit to using a box camera to take and display pictures in a collection, as it would not be done to state that one had used such a simple device in a sophisticated world of 'f's, zoom lenses and apertures, a world where the more complicated things are, the better....
...Even then [just after the end of WWII], to produce the box on a platform, peer into the inefficient little view finder and produce a massive 'click' did occasionally cause a stir...
...I do use it from time to time [still[]...The looks on the faces of others when the box camera is produced 'on location' have to be witnessed to be believed. It is as if one has suddenly rolled up in a suit of medieval armour!
Well at least in 2021 you are less likely to cause a stir shooting a box camera in public as more often than not people don't realise the box is a camera.
Volume 1 shows some historic steam locomotives. It is not meant to exhibit the capabilities of the Brownie No. 2 camera being used. That said, Goode does mention a few of the challenges of taking this subject matter with a box camera in his intro.
He points out that he generally needed sunny conditions, or if the light was dull, he would take the photo anything up to four times on the same frame to get the correct exposure. Sometimes he would tilt the camera to the desired angle on some pennies and take a long exposure. He was also limited to taking either stationary or slow moving trains due to the low shutter speed.
Volume 2, published in 1989 shows photos taken not of trains but of sites and stations and is a nice additional collection of photos taken on a simple box camera dating from c.1931.
It was very refreshing to find photo books featuring snapshots taken exclusively on a Brownie box camera. It is inspiring to see the camera used this way to make a project on a theme and has me wondering what I might be able to achieve with my own box cameras. It has been a long time since I've been shooting with mine (largely due to the travel restrictions imposed by lockdown due to the current Covid 19 pandemic), and I could really do with a project to look forward to when we are free to travel again. Next year marks the centenary of the Ensign Cupid, and it might be nice to produce a zine or similar project that showcases what this marvellous and quirky box camera can do.
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