Mad Science Runs in The Family

I was going through some pictures I took back in 2006 when I was in Germany, and I found some neat ones I want to share. You see, it turns out my great grandfather was somewhat of a pioneer in early photography. I wish I could remember the model of camera in these pictures but the important thing to know is that it was very early in the history of Photography.  The camera below was built before the advent of a shutter. Pictures were exposed by first covering the lense with a hankerchief or hat then removing said hat for a few seconds and then replacing it. My great grandfather got fed up with the lack of control of this process and added a custom shutter to his camera.

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In these pictures you can see, the camera from the front, the shuter in the open position, the shutter in the closed position, and the handbrake from a motorad (motorcycle) that great gramps used to control the shutter.