View Finding

June 19th, 2010 is World TTV Day, an international event intended to promote the re-purposing of vintage, analog cameras in a modern, digital world. In a nutshell, the TTV technique involves using a digital camera to take pictures "through the viewfinder" of an older, waist level camera. Pictures shot TTV have a look all their own. The glossy hi-tech nature of a modern digital photograph disappears behind the dust, grime, distortion, and ghosting typical of old cameras leaving a timeless image with an old-fashioned style you just can’t get with a nice clean digital camera.

To celebrate the process, we'll be hosting a TTV workshop on Saturday, June 19th at Perry Farm's Pavilion at Noon. We'll quickly examine the technique, build simple cardboard TTV rigs, and then spend the afternoon shooting pictures. This event will be totally free, but please RSVP to let us know how many people to expect.

We'll Provide:
• Supplies for building a cardboard contraption to eliminate reflections and glare.
• An online gallery of the best pictures taken by our photographers.
• Entry into a TTV exhibition in Belfast, Ireland

You Provide:
• A digital camera.
• A vintage camera with a viewfinder to shoot through. These cameras are commonly found in attics, yard sales, basements and thrift stores. Online, good cameras are commonly sold on ebay for just a few dollars. Pretty much any cheap camera with "flex" in its name will work. We'll only be using the viewfinder so it doesn't even matter if the camera is fully functional. Some of the popular models to search for are: The Kodak Duaflex, The Brownie Starflex, The Argoflex, The Anscoflex, The Ansco Rediflex.

For inspiration, examples of TTV pics from more than 6000 photographers can be found online at the Through the Viewfinder Flickr Group or the Official World TTV Day Group.