Kodak Autographic

The 52Frames prompt this week is "Your Hobby". I have two hobbies: photography and golf. Golf is a pleasant, if sometimes frustrating, pastime but photography is a passion, so I choose to highlight that in this challenge. This image is of a camera, the Kodak Autographic Jr, that I purchased in a second hand shop many years ago. It dates from approximately 1917. Kodak was at the forefront of making photography affordable for the masses and this model was extremely popular among soldiers bound for the war in Europe. By the end of the war Kodak had sold nearly two million cameras. What made the Autographic unique was an opening on the back that allowed for the user to write captions using a stylus to apply pressure on the sensitive paper between the film and the backing. When developed the caption would appear on the photo. I illuminated the camera with 2 LED lights and processed in Lightroom and Topaz B&W Effects. bob

[Diane]

This is awesome!

[KoalaGardens🐨]

oh wow that's something!

[Diana]

What an amazing narrative and shot of this ageing beauty.

[Kathy]

An interesting extra. Would be cool to see an example of that. A nice low key look at your vintage camera.

[Babs]

What a fabulous camera. I have a friend who collects old cameras. I am sure he would love this one

[Helge E. Storheim]

Very nice. I like the contrast between the dark parts and the lettering on the camera

[Gosia]

Interesting

[Steve Chappell]

Nice vintage camera

[Bucktree]

Excellent antique to cherish for your passion of photography. Great narrative.

[Corinne C]

Love the low key capture and I’d love to see this camera up close!

[Nigel Rogers]

Great low key shot of a fabulous old camera

[4rky]

That's a beautiful vintage piece of camera history

[LManning (Laura)]

There is something absolutely magical about these old cameras in low key. I love your processing and the border.

[gloria jones]

Cool capture of this classic

[Korcsog Károly]

Very super!

[Kate]

Fabulous low key shot

[GaryW]

Marvelous image! The words and numbers are very clear!

[Cherrill]

Ooh I have one of these! Have you used it all? Would be great to see some results. Mine is in a state of renovation/cleaning. I picked up four vintage cameras at an auction for £40! Lovely image of this iconic camera.

[Junko Y]

Perfect presentation of this vintage camera!

[Chris Cook]

@stowgarden I put a couple of rolls of 120 film through it when I first bought it (around 1977) but I haven't used it since. The bellows had a light leak that has only gotten worse. The images I took with it are long gone now and I didn't try the caption feature. It just sits on my display shelf and I bring it out every so often as a prop.