TTV PHOTOGRAPHY (Through The Viewfinder) are photos that are taken by aiming your camera lens at the viewfinder of another camera, like a vintage Kodak Duaflex – They are fun to shoot and very popular. Search the internet for TTV and see what you find!

You could call this kind of photography “Performance Art” – since the image is backwards in the Duaflex camera, you sometimes tend to stagger around a bit trying to frame your shot. A least I always do. It’s like trying to shoot through a periscope and it is an interesting and fun process.

The very first time I saw TTV photos was at a photo show downtown. A coworker/friend invited me. The images were spectacular! The photographer had her camera set up there so we could see how it was done. I assumed this was a concept she had come up with and thought she was very clever. Well, she is very clever but TTV has been around a while. Just google “TTV photos” and you’ll see that there are even ways to create faux TTV. Though I don’t know why you would want to – for me, the shooting of them is part of the art.

And speaking of art…when I thought about it, I thought it was a crafty-fun-thing and “not art.” Until I began to try to get a good photo with TTV, I discovered yes, there is art in TTV. Trying to frame an image backwards is part of it. I love the square format. I love that no matter what you do, it’s difficult to keep the viewfinder lens free of dust and dust becomes part of the charm. Even the “faux” TTVers include a fair amount of dust. And there is something about the look that is reminiscent of a still frame from a movie.

Here is the very first 3 photos I shot using my Yashica viewfinder. That’s all I had on hand at the time – see the red lines found on the viewfinder. It was harder that I thought it would be.

Then I bought 2 cameras on ebay – a Kodak Duaflex and an Argus.  Couldn’t resist buying 2 they were only a few dollars each. These cameras are much, much lighter weight and thus easier to maneuver and focus. (And no red lines.)Getting better and looking forward to trying more.

UPDATE: see more images on my TTV page

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