Also known as a kamra-e-faoree (‘instant camera’) in Dari or da lastunri kamra (‘sleeve camera’) in Pashto, the Afghan box camera is an analogue camera in the form of a large, portable wooden box within which photographers can expose and develop photographic prints in one sitting, without the use of a darkroom. Durable and mobile, it allowed for faster and cheaper photographs than in most studios in Afghanistan, where box camera photography became a popular street trade, particularly for portraits, in the latter half of the twentieth century. Now rarely in use, the Afghan box camera is mainly associated with Afghani popular culture before the Taliban regime.

The basic mechanism of an Afghan box camera is the same as other box cameras around the world. The most significant differences are in the immediate development of the photographic negative and positive within the box — unlike commercial box cameras such as the Kodak Brownie — and the presence of a single fixed lens with an internal focusing mechanism, rather than dual lenses or an adjustable zoom lens that many other box cameras feature. 

A typical Afghan box camera is approximately 30 centimetres tall and wide, and 50 centimetres long; it is fixed onto an adjustable wooden tripod. The light-tight wooden box that forms the body of the camera has a fixed-focus lens at one long end, covered by a cap — the camera does not have a shutter. In front of this is affixed a wooden arm with a holder for a negative, which is folded out or swivelled to face the lens for the second part of the photographic process. A backdoor on the opposite face of the box allows the photographer to look inside to compose and check the focus of the image. One of the side walls has an opening covered by a dark cloth sleeve, through which the photographer can reach inside without letting in light. The top of the box has a small peephole with a sliding door, to check the progress of the developing photograph without exposing it to the light. Inside, a ground glass sheet acts as the focusing plate; held on two fixed rods, it can slide along the length of the box, facilitated by a third rod attached to it that extends outside the box. On the floor of the interior are trays containing developer and fixer, and a closed box containing photosensitive paper. A bucket of water and a towel are generally kept next to the camera to rinse and dry the negative and the final print. The parts and materials for the camera were sourced locally, except for the lens and the paper, which were imported; most Afghan box cameras used Japanese or Russian lenses. The camera’s simple and robust construction could withstand the extreme outdoor temperatures in Afghanistan.  

Variants of the camera within Afghanistan include slightly smaller ones, such as the 36-centimetre-long ones used in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif; ones with a circular backdoor; or with the backdoor replaced by a window covered with red translucent plastic — simulating the red light used in a darkroom. Other variations have no opening at the back at all, and instead use a periscope-like viewfinder that makes the focusing plate visible via a 45° mirror. A popular variation used in Peshawar, Pakistan, where it was known as ‘minute camera’, featured a zoom lens that is adjusted from the front.

After adjusting the tripod and camera position relative to the subject, the photographer opens the backdoor and looks inside to establish the focus of the image. This is done by moving the sliding rod until a sharp image appears on the focusing plate — this focal length is temporarily marked on the sliding rod and the backdoor is closed. The photographer then reaches into the camera through the sleeve and mounts a piece of photosensitive paper onto a frame on the plate. The plate is then slid back to the marked focus position, and the lens cap is removed for a few seconds to expose the photosensitive paper. 

The photographer replaces the cap and then reaches back into the box, takes the photosensitive paper out of its frame and proceeds to develop it without opening the box. Using a practised knowledge of the internal arrangement of the box, the photographer briefly immerses the paper into the developer and the fixer by turns, monitoring its progress using the peephole at the top. The resultant paper negative is then taken out through the sleeve and placed in the negative holder in front of the lens. This is now treated as the subject of a second photograph, and the entire process is repeated, beginning with focusing the negative onto the glass plate. This time, the photosensitive paper that is exposed and fixed is a negative of a negative, which is the desired positive photograph.

The Afghan box camera was first developed in the 1950s following a mandate by the king Mohammad Zahir Shah (r. 1933–73) that required citizens to attach photographs to their national identity cards, or tazkira. During the early twentieth century photography in Afghanistan was largely confined to royal courts, where it was replacing court painting. The earliest known photography studio was at the court of Amir Habibulla (r. 1901–19), and the few independent studios that followed it were only affordable for the elite. A government contract towards tazkira photography was awarded to photographer Ahmadin Taufiq and his friend Afandi, a retired civil servant; together, they developed the basic design of the camera and trained photographers to use it. With the help of local carpenters — a man named Ali Abdul may have been the most prolific of these — photographers were equipped and sent to all of the kingdom’s provinces, accompanied by government scribes, to take portraits of the male citizens (the tazkira was initially optional for women), making the Afghan box camera a familiar tool to many. Since then, the camera has also been used to make photographs for military identity documents, specifically for the Mujahideen fighters who worked with the US army to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979–89). While box camera photographs were of smaller size and lesser quality than studio photographs, the Afghan box camera made photography far more accessible to the general public.

Some photographers believe that an early version of the box camera arrived from India before the 1950s, in which the ground glass plate needed to be moved by hand rather than using a rod. This camera may have been used by Indian or Indian-origin photographers who opened studios in Afghanistan, although it is unclear how early in the twentieth century they may have done so. Others claim that Taufiq and Afandi developed their camera based on their study of an Israeli visitor’s box camera.

A new vernacular art form developed as local carpenters in the Afghan provinces learned to build box cameras, using the official cameras as templates. The camera was now used not only for identity card photographs but also for weddings, family portraits, souvenirs for tourists, or other visual mementos. Photographers experimented with various techniques, creating double exposure portraits or photographic collages of their subjects with popular cinema actors; and colouring photographs with paint, markers or dampened kite-paper. The camera was also commonly used to create copies of existing photographs cheaply and quickly. 

Some box camera photographers owned their own studios; others worked only on the streets. At the height of the camera’s popularity in the country, photographers could be seen working near government offices where people needed to provide photographic identification; at busy intersections; or sometimes just outside photography studios. Providing a modest income for its practitioners, box camera photography was a major street trade in Afghanistan during the second half of the twentieth century. The photographers were almost always men; knowledge of the craft was often passed down from older family members. Young boys helped to supplement their fathers’ income by taking portraits of women, something that was frowned upon if done by an adult male photographer. The appeal of the cameras lay partly in how quickly the finished photographs were available to customers, and also in the colourful, attractive designs painted on the camera that could draw the attention of curious passersby. Sample photographs were also displayed on the outer walls of the camera, advertising the photographer’s ability. Although Afghan box cameras cannot be adapted for colour photography, hand-painted photographs were a popular (if expensive) additional service that customers could request. 

There are reports that in the early years of the craft, customers who had no experience of photography — and therefore no awareness of how close a likeness a photograph could produce — were sometimes misled by photographers who presented them with pre-made photographs of other people, saving on time and material costs. More generally, however, photographers and scholars recall that the time, spontaneity and social interactions involved in street box camera photography contributed to a culture that is lost with the widespread prevalence of digital photography. 

Box camera photography came to an abrupt halt under Afghanistan’s first Taliban government between 1996 and 2001. Following an orthodox interpretation of the Hadith, the creation and public display of images of living creatures (specifically humans and animals) was banned — except for some official purposes — and photographers faced imprisonment. Across Afghanistan, studios, box cameras and other photographic tools were destroyed in raids — some possibly even before Taliban rule, during the Soviet invasion and the Afghan Civil War (1992–96). 

After the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, cameras that had been hidden during the raids were brought out and the practice of street photography reappeared in Afghani cities and towns. Photographers also had more work for identity card photographs as girls were now allowed to attend school. Some Afghani photographers, such as Izzat Ullah, moved to Peshawar as refugees during the civil war and continued practising the craft there.

However, by the early 2010s, the Afghan box camera had largely been rendered obsolete, partly due to the increasing popularity and accessibility of digital photography. Government documents now required colour photographs, which the box camera could not provide, and sourcing the photosensitive paper for the camera became increasingly difficult and expensive. Some box camera photographers were able to begin using more conventional cameras and move to studios, while those who did not have studio space moved into other professions entirely. 

In 2011–12, Austrian artist Lucas Birk and Irish ethnographer Sean Foley undertook extensive documentation of the camera and its cultural history as part of the Afghan Box Camera Project, and published a book with the same title in 2013. Besides images and videos showing the camera’s use and construction, the project also documented the lives and careers of several Afghani photographers, the techniques they used, and the history and culture of photography in Afghanistan. These materials have also been made freely accessible online. The media nonprofit AINA, working in Kabul since 2001, conducted at least one photojournalism course in which students were taught to use Afghan box cameras.  

Due to such efforts, photography enthusiasts all over the world have built their own versions of the Afghan box camera. Rodrigo Abd, an Associated Press photographer, developed a fascination with the camera during his coverage of the US invasion of Afghanistan; he returned to the country in 2023 and documented his travels using an Afghan box camera. Although the Taliban was back in power, the prevalence of smartphones had made it impossible to penalise photographers, and objects like Abd’s box camera were now considered novelties that inspired curiosity even among members of the Taliban, who posed for several of Abd’s photographs.

Wary of the challenges to the survival of the craft, several Afghani photographers have preserved their cameras and negatives for their historical value. Examples include Hekmatullah Arbabzadeh, who has been maintaining his collection since the early 2000s; Abdul Samad, one of the first kamra-e-faoree photographers, whose negatives and camera were saved by his family under the first Taliban government; Abdul Haq Baratali, who has maintained his camera as well as a collection of negatives and prints in his Kabul studio since the 1980s; and Haji Mirzaman, the only practising box camera street photographer in Afghanistan at the time of writing.