A new book by Luther College professor Aaron Lurth is now available to readers in Decorah. Small Luxuries: Film Cameras, a 128-page illustrated hardcover, can be purchased at the Luther Book Shop and online, giving local readers access to a cultural history of cameras, photography and the people who shaped the medium.
The book was published Aug. 4 by the Quarto Group and was locally available as of Aug. 23, according to the report updated Aug. 24. It is aimed at readers interested in photography, graphic design and cultural history, not only people looking for information about which camera to buy.
A cultural history rather than a buying guide
Lurth’s book does not center on product recommendations or detailed technical specifications. Instead, it examines how camera design and technological development became connected to American culture and everyday life.
The 128-page volume considers the influence of major world events, large manufacturers, notable camera models and important figures in photography. It also looks at why certain cameras gained cultural significance and how companies developed their products.
Designed as a coffee-table-style book, Small Luxuries 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 in the book.
When camera history becomes political history
One section connects the history of Leica, the German camera company, with 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 show that camera history can also be political and human history. Manufacturing, innovation and industrial design appear alongside corporate decisions and individual 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. His new book applies that visual storytelling background to the cameras, companies and people that influenced how images are recorded and understood.
Small Luxuries: Film Cameras is available locally at the Luther Book Shop in Decorah and online.