21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
Box camera

Haji Mirzaman, 75, uses his Afghan box camera - an inventive mix of a camera obscura and a darkroom in one tool. Such cameras used to be common in Afghanistan, but cheap digital equipment has effectively driven them to extinction. Haji Mirzaman is the last man to operate a box camera for commercial purposes, and nowadays his work is additionally threatened by Taliban prohibitions.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Kabul, Afghanistan
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Copyright: © Mark Levitin