Decorah readers interested in photography, design and cultural history can now pick up a new book by Luther College professor Aaron Lurth at the Luther Book Shop. Small Luxuries: Film Cameras is also available for online purchase.
The 128-page illustrated hardcover, published Aug. 4 through the Quarto Group, explores how cameras became part of culture and everyday life. Its local availability was reported Aug. 23, 2026, in a report updated Aug. 24.
A cultural history rather than a camera guide
Small Luxuries is aimed at readers interested in photography, graphic design and cultural history. It is not a conventional camera guide, meaning readers looking for product recommendations or detailed technical specifications will find a different kind of book.
Instead, Lurth traces links among camera design, technological development and American culture. The book examines the influence of major world events, large manufacturers, notable camera models and important figures in photography. It also considers why some cameras gained cultural significance and how companies developed their products.
The coffee-table-style volume combines photographs, illustrations, vintage advertisements, newspaper clippings and other visual material. Lurth sourced and photographed about one-third of the images himself. The featured cameras include models he owns or was able to access, including a 1909 Kodak No. 3A Folding Brownie, described in the report as one of the oldest cameras shown.
Connecting camera history with political history
One of the book’s central stories involves Leica, the German camera company, during the rise of Nazi Germany. According to the report, Leica owner Ernst Leitz II helped approximately 300 Jewish people leave Germany during the 1930s.
Leitz assigned those people to offices in France, Great Britain, Hong Kong and the United States while presenting the arrangements as Leica employment. The effort later became known as the Leica Freedom Train.
Lurth uses the episode to demonstrate how camera history can include political decisions, corporate actions and individual lives. The book places manufacturing, innovation and industrial design alongside choices made during a period of crisis.
Lurth’s connection to Luther College
Lurth earned a bachelor’s degree in art from Luther College in 2008 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography and graphic design from the University of Iowa in 2012. He later returned to Luther as a professor of art and visual communication and serves as director of the college’s visual communication program.
His photography has appeared in projects connected with National Geographic, ABC, NBC, MTV.com, Time, the Des Moines Register, General Electric, CNET.com, the Red Cross and The Iowa Review. His films have screened at more than 100 festivals worldwide and received several awards, including the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s Best Documentary film.
In 2022, two of Lurth’s photographs entered the permanent collection of the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. With Small Luxuries: Film Cameras, he brings that visual storytelling experience to the cameras, companies and people that shaped how images are recorded and understood. The book is available locally through the Luther Book Shop and online.