While waiting for the mass in the Sta. Cruz Church in Manila, we decided to go to Escolta’s creative space HUB | Make Lab. At the entrance, we met Jovel Lorenzo, a professional photographer and owner of Box Camera PH. He is the brother of theatre and film actor Jojit Lorenzo.

What’s interesting is that instead of using a digital camera, Jovel is using a wooden contraption supported by a tripod. The box camera he built from scratch during the early quarantine phase of the pandemic was modeled from the 19th Century street box camera. It is mostly found in Afghanistan where it was commonly called “kamra-e-faoree” translated as “instant camera”. More popularly known as the Afghan box, it serves as both a camera and a darkroom instantly producing black and white prints in a couple of minutes.

Jovel was very enthusiastic about showing us how the box camera works. Instead of using film, it uses chemical-based photo paper to produce both negatives and positives. There is a certain rawness captured in the beautiful black-and-white photographs produced by the box camera.

One photo session is worth PhP1,500.00. As there should be no retake in taking your picture using the box camera, you should be well-prepared and ready for the photo session. We promised Jovel that we will come back for a photo session.

Jovel’s creativity and resourcefulness have produced the box camera during the lockdown, a good result out of the pandemic. If you are interested, visit the Instagram page of Box Camera PH.