mechanism · 10 · folding plate · 1/25 sec · brass barrel
six slim blades arranged like petals, each pivoting on its own pin. cocked, they open the full pupil of the lens; released, they close it in a single dark blink. between cocking and closing, a small portion of time is given to the plate, and a portion of the world is kept.
this one came off a folding bellows-camera that is no longer in the cupboard. the spring is still good and the action still even. you can hold it to one eye and watch the iris of your own eye rehearsed by hand: open, shut, open again, the way a photograph agrees to remember.
field-note · do not release the shutter empty. each click costs the spring a small fraction of its honesty.
spring · cog · photograph · eye