A new book from Luther College professor Aaron Lurth asks readers to look at film cameras as more than outdated technology. Small Luxuries: Film Cameras traces the cameras, companies and people that helped shape visual culture while connecting photography to American history and major events.
Lurth, a visual communication professor and director of Luther’s visual communication program, published the 128-page hardcover Aug. 4 through the Quarto Group, according to Luther College News. Decorah residents can purchase the book through the Luther Book Shop or online.
A visual history, not a camera manual
The book is written for a broad audience. Although it explains basic camera mechanics, its main focus is the history and cultural meaning of cameras rather than detailed specifications or equipment advice.
Lurth follows the development of film-camera technology through major manufacturers, notable models and influential figures. The coffee-table-style book combines photographs, illustrations, vintage advertisements, newspaper clippings and other visual materials to tell that story.
About one-third of the images were sourced and photographed by Lurth with cameras he owns or was able to access. One of the oldest cameras he photographed was a 1909 Kodak No. 3A Folding Brownie.
That approach broadens the book beyond a series of brand histories. It provides context for readers interested in photography, graphic design and cultural history, as well as people curious about the stories behind familiar camera companies.
The Leica Freedom Train
One of the book’s central episodes involves Leica, the German camera company. During the 1930s, Leica owner Ernst Leitz II helped approximately 300 Jewish people leave Nazi Germany by assigning them to offices in France, Great Britain, Hong Kong and the United States under the appearance of Leica employment.
The rescue effort later became known as the Leica Freedom Train. Lurth uses the episode to demonstrate how the history of a camera company can intersect with world events and the lives of people affected by them—not only with technological innovation or industrial design.
Lurth’s Decorah and visual-storytelling ties
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.
His photography has appeared in projects associated 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 extends that work into a history of the cameras, companies and people that helped shape how the world records and understands images.