Harold's camera case on the ground next to his rickshaw in Kobe. Harold's Graflex was lost, so Hope and I bought a used Graflex just like Harold's so we could show you how it works. What amazes me is that he carried this ten-pound monstrosity around China for a year and made more than a thousand beautifully composed pictures with it.

Here is the camera we bought, in its case. There is a story about this case. It was in terrible shape so we took it to our local shoe repair shop and asked the owner, who calls himself "Soleman", to fix it. He said "You couldn't afford it." I said "How much?" He said seventy dollars. I said go ahead. He said "Call me in a week". The next day Soleman called and said "The case is ready". I went over and it was like new. Soleman said "I got interested in the project and didn't repair any shoes. I lost money." I said "I'll give you a mention on the web site". He said OK. Thanks, Soleman.

Step 1
Remove the camera from its case.

Step 2
Press the secret button and a door falls open, revealing the lens.

Step 3
Pull the lens out along its rail.

Step 4
Pull latch.

Step 5
Lift cover.

Step 6
Lock brackets to hold viewing hood in place.

Step 7
Open bottom of camera and insert a roll of film.

Step 8
Turn handle until the frame number appears in the window.

Step 9
Set shutter speed with controls on the right side of the camera.

Step 10
Look down through hood at viewing screen.

Steps 11 & 12
Focus with right hand and shoot with the left thumb.

Hold camera like this for vertical pictures. Note Don in the backwards cap.

Equipment including filter, rolls of film, instruction books

Anatomy of the camera. It is a medium format single-lens reflex with a focal plane shutter.

After a gruelling photo shoot, Hope relaxes on the front steps.

Always the slave to fashion, Don relaxing with his cap on backwards.
However, there is a practical reason for this, as well - it is infinitely easier to focus and use the viewfinder of the Graflex with the visor away from the camera.