In this issue, Erica Anderson-Senter reveals the “Midwestern Poet’s Incomplete Guide to Symbolism.” Ezra Zwaeli relishes in the stinkiest of joys in “Chòu Dòufu at Taiwan’s Shi Lin Night Market.” And Ethan Rutherford introduces “Angus and Annabel,” a young brother and sister who fear their father as much as they grieve their dead mother. “Angus and Annabel” is a dark tale from Rutherford’s forthcoming collection, Farthest South and Other Stories, scheduled for release on April 13, 2021.

The images in this issue feature early photographs taken with the Kodak camera, a creation of American inventor George Eastman (1854-1932) that produced circular snapshots. The ease of use and low price of this simple box camera made popular photography accessible.

Featured art: George Eastman

Popular photography can properly be said to have started 120 years ago with the introduction of the Kodak camera, the invention of an American, George Eastman (1854-1932). It was a simple, leather-covered wooden box – small and light enough to be held in the hands. Taking a photograph with the Kodak was very easy, requiring only three simple actions; turning the key (to wind on the film); pulling the string (to set the shutter); and pressing the button (to take the photograph). There wasn’t even a viewfinder – the camera was simply pointed in the direction of the subject to be photographed. The Kodak produced circular snapshots, two and a half inches in diameter. The Kodak was sold already loaded with enough paper-based roll film to take one hundred photographs. After the film had been exposed, the entire camera was returned to the factory for the film to be developed and printed. The camera, reloaded with fresh film, was then returned to its owner, together with a set of prints. To sum up the Kodak system, Eastman devised the brilliantly simple sales slogan: ‘You press the button, we do the rest.’ From the Public Domain Review https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kodak-no-1-circular-snapshots

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