A new book from Luther College professor Aaron Lurth invites readers to look at film cameras as cultural objects—not merely devices for taking pictures. Small Luxuries: Film Cameras examines how camera design, technology, politics and personal experience shaped the meaning people attach to photographic equipment.
The 128-page illustrated hardcover was published Aug. 4 through the Quarto Group. It is available locally through the Luther Book Shop in Decorah and online. Decorah Today published its report Aug. 23, 2026, and updated it Aug. 24.
A cultural history, not a buying guide
Lurth is a visual communication professor and director of Luther’s visual communication program. The book is aimed at readers interested in photography, graphic design and cultural history rather than people seeking equipment recommendations or detailed product specifications.
Its chapters explore the connections among camera design, American culture, technological development and major events around the world. Lurth discusses major manufacturers, notable models and influential figures while examining why some cameras became important and how companies developed their products.
The coffee-table-style book combines photographs, illustrations, vintage advertisements, newspaper clippings and other visual material. Lurth sourced and photographed about one-third of the images himself. Among the cameras he used were 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 featured.
The Leica story at the center
One of the book’s central stories follows 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 escape Nazi Germany during the 1930s. He assigned them to offices in France, Great Britain, Hong Kong and the United States while presenting the arrangement as Leica employment. The effort later became known as the Leica Freedom Train.
Lurth uses the episode to show that camera history includes political events and the experiences of people affected by them, alongside innovation, manufacturing and industrial design.
Lurth’s visual storytelling background
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 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, the Luther professor brings that visual storytelling background to the cameras, companies and people that helped shape how the world records and understands images.