Park Experiments Day 2 Feb 28

Didn't think I would get outside today, but ended up at the park down the street. It was a cold 12°F outside and no matter how much you smile, an hour and a half at that temperature will freeze your cheeks.

What I learned... Pack up the cameras when you come in from the cold. I fogged up all my lenses.

Desk Experiments - Day 1 Feb 27

After a long day of failed contraption attempts, I tested the whole outfit on the toys at my desk. Why do I have toys on my desk? Because my mouse and keyboard get lonely. How do you raise your desk morale?

What I learned... Not enough light mean long exposure times and I'm prone to shaking. No more late evening desk shots.

A Curious Contraption

Contraption is the name for the device used to block light between the top and bottom cameras for TTV. It can be made out of virtually anything, from cereal boxes to pvc pipe... but they are commonly made from lightweight cardboard. It doesn't have to be pretty, it's only function is to eliminate reflection and glare from the top of the viewfinder glass.

My first contraption was 12 inches tall, made of black posterboard and masking tape. It has side slits to allow for the strap and side screws. I am currently working on a new design that will fold flat and fit into my camera bag.

A Curious Camera

I found and purchased a Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro Model for less than $10 shipped on eBay. Not too expensive, and not too insanely old (produced between 1940-52) for me to feel guilty about completely dismantling it to discover it's secret inner workings. Waiting for it to arrive via parcel post was the hardest part of the whole ordeal.

Surgical cleaning was easy, only a few screws to remove to expose the guts of the camera. The insides were covered with 50+ years of dust, the mirror was a little spotty but overall it was in good condition.


Bottom Cameras for TTV are usually Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) Cameras meaning that the top lens is for the viewfinder and the bottom lens is for the shutter. So, if you are purchasing a camera for ttv it's not too important if the shutter or film advance is operational. Instead of holding the camera up to your eye, it is worn around the neck and you tilt your head down to see through the viewfinder. The image that you see is flipped in a mirror at right angles toward your eye. Somehow seeing the world this way makes the ordinary look interesting.

Why TTV?

TTV stands for Through the Viewfinder and this method of photography uses 2 cameras, one for the actual image capture and the other acts as a complicated lens. I think the reason why I am drawn to TTV is that I have always wanted my images to be exactly what I see when I look into the camera. I'm tired of unpredictable P&S digital cameras that somehow always give me grief.

The framing of the final image is so vintage ViewMaster (mine was blue!) which has always struck me as magical. The capture process reminds me of Alice and her adventures Through the Looking Glass, where we can take an adventure to a strange and wonderful place, but maybe they were the same places all along. Or maybe I am drawn to TTV simply because I wear glasses and I cry a lot and they are perpetually spotted and distorted especially along the edges.

Artistically, I am drawn to TtV because I am working with a distorted capture a unique perception of reality dictated by the individual viewfinder camera's fingerprint (whether the lenses are scratched or marred or the mirror spotty or the prevalence of dust or other contaminants) not by pixel manipulation and post processing an image.

A Curious Embarkation

I've always had bad luck with cameras & photography in general, mostly because I have no idea what I am doing. But what I have noticed, is that what I see, is never what I get, or more realistically... what I get, isn't what I want. Maybe it is because I'm impatient, perpetually shaky, or maybe just a little too myopic. My photos come out without feeling and are technically of poor quality and always b-l-a-h even after hours of image manipulation and pixel pushing.

I want to capture that elusive picture in my mind, or at very least, something mildly interesting. Maybe the vignettes, distortion, scratches and dust through the viewfinder will be my salvation.
-Diana Norman