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My old pal Billy Baque takes us on a tour of one of his many classic film camera obsessions, the “Cuban Polaroid:”

It was a wooden box with the bellows and lens from a folding camera mounted at one end with a complete darkroom inside. Using photographic printing paper the photographer would expose a sheet of paper for the negative, develop, stop, and fix it inside the camera, then put a copy stand on the camera and photograph the negative (to obtain a positive), develop, stop, and fix, then wash the final print in a coffee can of water attached to his homemade tripod.

The technology apparently developed as a means for working photographers to produce souvenir prints on site, on demand, and at very low cost. [Thanks, Billy!]

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BY Sean Michael Ragan

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I write for MAKE, serve as Technical Editor for MAKE magazine, and develop original DIY content for Make: Projects.

One Response to "Cuban Polaroid" is ultra-low-tech camera, darkroom all in one

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