Instant Box Camera

from his book A NEW LIGHT - available on www.fraglich.com

A NEW LIGHT. A new box camera@book by available on .publishing

A New Light takes us on a journey through present-day Afghanistan, documented using an age-old photographic method, a box camera (kamra-e-faoree) that functions both as camera and darkroom. Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Rodrigo Abd brings this apparatus back to a country where it was once widely used, encountering the citizens of today’s Afghanistan through a slow and deeply personal photographic process.
The resulting images are striking in their depth and darkness, at once intimate and revealing. Carrying the nearly 15-kilogram camera across the country, Rodrigo set up temporary portrait studios in urban and rural settings alike, from factories and workshops to parks, streets, and places of leisure. The physicality and slowness of the process creates encounters that feel deliberate and grounded, offering a rare form of presence.
Accompanied by short interviews and descriptive captions, the photographs open a layered view into everyday life in Afghanistan today. Rodrigo Abd has spent decades documenting conflict, political upheaval, and social realities across the world. He first encountered the kamra-e-faoree during his early assignments in Afghanistan in the 2000s, where he began experimenting locally with the instant box camera and produced an initial body of work. This return to Afghanistan reflects both a commitment to his craft and a deeper engagement with the country and its people, reconnecting photographic history with contemporary lived experience.
9 x 14cm
156 Pages
Slipcase

From new book A NEW LIGHT with Box Camera images taken in Afghanistan- available on www.fraglich.com