A new book by Luther College professor Aaron Lurth invites readers to see film cameras as cultural artifacts rather than outdated technology. Small Luxuries: Film Cameras examines the companies, devices and people that helped shape visual culture while connecting photography’s development to American history and major world events.
Lurth, a visual communication professor and director of Luther’s visual communication program, published the 128-page hardcover on Aug. 4 through the Quarto Group, according to Luther College News. Decorah residents can buy the book through the Luther Book Shop or online.
A visual history rather than a camera manual
The book is designed for a broad audience. It includes explanations of basic camera mechanics, but its main purpose is to explore the historical and cultural significance of cameras—not to offer detailed equipment specifications or purchasing advice.
Lurth follows the evolution of film-camera technology through major manufacturers, notable models and influential figures. The coffee-table-style volume uses photographs, illustrations, vintage advertisements, newspaper clippings and other visual materials to tell the story.
About one-third of the images were sourced and photographed by Lurth using cameras he owns or was able to access. Among the oldest cameras he photographed was a 1909 Kodak No. 3A Folding Brownie.
That combination of research and firsthand photography takes the book beyond a collection of brand histories. It gives readers interested in photography, graphic design and cultural history a look at how familiar camera companies developed and why their products mattered.
The Leica Freedom Train
One of the book’s central episodes concerns 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 show how the history of a camera company can intersect with world events and the lives of people affected by them, rather than being limited to technological innovation or industrial design.
Lurth’s ties to Luther and visual storytelling
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 visual-storytelling work into a history of the cameras, companies and people that helped shape how the world records and understands images.