Instant Street Photography, Afghanistan-Style

Austrian-born, London-schooled and now Beijing-based artist Lukas Birk has a project that needs funding: a documentary about Afghan box cameras. What's a box camera? Here's Birk to let you know:

Basically, it's a giant, light-proof, instant camera, inside of which an image is processed on the spot. By reaching through a cloth-covered hole into the box, the photographer unwraps light-sensitive photo paper and, once exposed, dips it into little tubs of developing chemicals.

Hide caption Lukas Birk's friend Sean has his photo taken by a street photographer in Mazar i Sharif in Northern Afghanistan. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption The resulthing image, produced on the spot. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption Birk has his photo taken. After the first exposure, the photographer mounts the resulting negative image to be photographed again, creating the positive image. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption The result of the double negative exposure is this positive image of Birk, in Mazar i Sharif. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption The initial negative image and two subsequent positive images of Birk and his friend Sean, taken by a street photographer in Mazar i Sharif. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption Birk and the first incarnation of his box camera, at an exhibition for some of his other work in Beijing in 2009. The black cloth hanging from the side covers a hole through which he can reach his hand to mount and develop the photo paper while preventing light from entering. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption Birk peers through the open back of his box camera. To focus the camera, he moves a translucent glass plate toward or away from the lens until the image projected on the glass is sharp. This is where he will mount the photo-sensitive paper once the light is sealed out. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption A picture taken with Burk's box camera at the Beijing exhibition. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption A photo of an exhibition visitor trying on a Burqa. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk

Hide caption Another image made with Birk's box camera. Previous Next Photos courtesy of Lukas Birk 1 of 10 i View slideshow

The first exposure is a negative; to get a positive print, it is photographed again. The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes, which is a little longer than what you'd wait for a Polaroid — and it's a heck of a lot less portable — but you can make one of these yourself. Just don't shake it.

Learn more in the Los Angeles Times article: Afghanistan's Street Photographers Fading Away