CameraSelfies: My Project Captures The Rich History Of Old Analog Cameras

What would happen if photo cameras came up with the idea to take selfies? Historical, bizarre and beautiful cameras capturing photos of themselves... Sounds fun.

My name is Jürgen Novotny and I'm the photographer behind the project "CameraSelfies". With these series, I wanted to capture the rich history of old, mostly not used analog cameras in a modern fashion. The project features cameras from the 1920s onward.

I learned that non-digital cameras seemed in fact to be abandoned and forgotten. Beautiful and still great equipment, I couldn't afford a few years ago, is now available for a few bucks. Good for me, but somehow sad.

While trying to capture the cameras' unique personalities and genuine intimacy I also want to depict and caricature the ongoing selfie trend with it's staged kisses and pouty lips. "CameraSelfies" thus uses this universally apparent (and more and more exhausting) “selfiemania” to recall its origins. By placing special emphasis on those forgotten beauties I want to declare my belief that they are not only tools reduced to their technical data, but also still an inspiration for artists and a source for creativity.

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