TTV

As previously discussed, ‘TTV’ is a method of photography that produces interesting and organic in-camera aging effects without the hassle of Photoshop. I think that if something can be done organically, it’ll always take precedence over anything done digitally. Check out the previous post to get some more background on exactly what TTV is and what it might require.

So, you have a collection of working or semi-working Kodak Duaflex cameras, as well as your newfangled digital camera… how can you make neat things with them?

First of all, when you’re focusing your digital camera on the viewfinder of the analog camera, you’re going to want to eliminate all external light besides the light entering the analog camera’s lenses. Not only does this give you a clearer image, but it’ll prevent any glare on the viewfinder from obscuring your photograph. Because the distance between the two cameras is likely to be a foot or more, your setup is going to require some kind of lightproof conduit between the two cameras.

By way of example, I found an old, wooden card catalogue drawer that my local library was getting rid of. Through some fluke of fortune, my Kodak Duaflex fit perfectly into the drawer, and its lenses peeked right through the bottom slot, so this drawer served as the basis for my lightproof conduit between the Duaflex and the digital camera.

Next, I tested the automatic focusing range on my digital camera. This is the trickiest part – you want to allow your digital camera to be able to easily focus on the viewfinder of the second camera and be able to capture it cleanly. After a series of test photographs, I discovered that setting my Canon Powershot to macro mode and setting it back by about 14 inches would get me the clearest shot possible. Using that distance, I cut the drawer down to size, and wrapped any open parts (besides the very top and the small section with the lens) with black matboard and tape – all things that I had lying around the studio. At this point, the TTV device begins to take shape. The only thing left to do is seal the top!

When sealing the top, you want to leave a space just big enough to slip the camera’s optical zoom lens through. It’s pretty simple to trace around the lens and cut the resulting circle out of a piece of cardboard. Tape the top panel onto the TTV device and you’re ready to take some photos!

Of course, making this out of wood means that the device is very sturdy, but also pretty heavy. You can use any materials that you have around that can provide lightfastness when taped together – in fact, cereal boxes are favored for their neat designs, thickness, and ease of construction. Other devices use lengths of PVC pipe, and still others are made entirely our of fabric. As long as you have a clear shot between cameras with no intervening light, you’ve got yourself a TTV device. Of course, all of this was gibberish to me until I started looking at pictures, so hopefully the above images illustrate the process better than my clumsy words.

If nothing else, it’s a great use for some of the old cameras you’ve collected, especially when the cost of processing more obscure films is astronomical – if the cameras even function at all. Again, check out the small gallery here on CQ for some more images I took this week, and by all means, enjoy your cameras. They’re pretty, but they do stuff too.

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I’ve never been able to grasp photography as I have some of the other visual arts. Sure, I can paint and draw stuff, and I’ve even made a few short films, but capturing a perfect section of reality on a perfect section of film has always eluded me, even moreso when I had to start mixing chemicals to make it appear on a piece of paper. Over the course of my attendance at art school, I taught myself to approach these more difficult arts by embracing their imperfections and emphasizing them to a point of beauty. I spent an entire semester of metal shop by digging in the scrap bin and over-welding every joint I made, and by never polishing my printing plates properly, I managed to pull out some pretty intense textures. Well, I could call them ‘textures’ in critiques – in truth, they were simply the products of my greasy fingers.

So, I have a tendency to shy away from the pristine. I’d rather hear a scratchy LP that a sanitized, cleaned up copy of the same, and I’d rather see a photograph with muted colors and dust spots than a hi-resolution digital image. That’s just the way I roll – knee deep in anachronisms and before-my-timery. If I could hook up an old Corona typewriter up to my Mac Mini instead of this keyboard, I’d probably feel more at home. Also, if the Mac were made of bakelite and rusted metal cogs and I had to pedal or pump some kind of steampunk bellows to make it run. It’s this love of anachronism, paired with some interesting online art communities, that I fell in love with Through The Viewfinder, or TTV, photography.

Essentially, TTV is the art using a camera, which we shall call Camera One, to take a photograph of the viewfinder of Camera Two, while Camera Two is focused on the subject of your choice. Camera One, which takes the actual photograph, is usually a digital camera, whereas Camera Two is a regular ol’ analog camera. Camera Two does not take a photograph, but instead serves as a static conduit for the incoming image. This photograph that you end up taking is visually altered by the unusual systems of mirrors and lenses that the second camera uses. This usually results in various blurring, refracting and prism effects on the final image – and if you’re using an older camera, dusty specks. It’s automatic vintage, and you don’t even need to shove it up Photoshop’s nose.

Since you’re taking a photograph OF a viewfinder, it stands to reason that you’d want a large target to shoot at. We’re not talking about the LCD readout on the back of your digital – we’re looking for real glass-and-mirrors stuff. The most popular camera for this kind of photography is the Kodak Duaflex camera, a TLR (twin lens reflex) camera which features a large 2” x 2” viewfinder and an internal mirror. For anyone born after the last three decades, this is no palm-sized camera. It’s a big, chunky thing that you must hold below you and look down into in order to see what you’re taking a photo of. As a camera, it creates medium format negatives for the professional photographer. For TTV purposes, it has a relatively large viewfinder and captures a lot of detail. Also popular are the Starflex and Kinaflex cameras.

Kodak made four versions of their Duaflex, conveniently called ‘Duaflex’, ‘Duaflex II’, ‘Duaflex III’ and finally, 1957’s ‘Duaflex IV’. Please note that these cameras are neither called the ‘Dualflex’ nor the ‘Duraflex’, though using such terms on eBay will greatly increase your search results from sellers who do not bother to read the labeling on what they’re selling.

I started adding Duaflex cameras to my arsenal of visual devices, right next to the Polaroid Spectra. I’ve never been a camera collector before, mostly due to my uneasy relationship with the device and many unsatisfying photo courses, but my bandolier of cameras seems to be ever-growing. I always take pleasure in subverting devices and formulas to my own unexpected ends. For an investment of well under 20 bucks per camera, I’ve found myself with a full line of vintage Duaflex cameras, with more incoming and about to be subjected to various dissection experiments. Many eBay auctions seem to come with complete camera carrying cases and loads of flashbulbs, and even long-expired film to play with.

For a world going increasingly all-digital, it feels good to take another step backwards in the name of beauty. Check out the photos above, and in our Community Section, for examples of TTV photography, and stay tuned for Wednesday’s instructional about how to make your own TTV device.

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