Photographs from the roll of Kodak Verichrome Pan (black-and-white) 120 film found in a vintage Rolleiflex TLR (twin-lens-reflex) medium-format camera.
This camera and kit were bough at auction from somewhere in the USA… When we discovered there was a roll of film inside it, we sealed it carefully to avoid light leaks, and sent it off to our friends at Nice Film Lab to be developed… Turns out there were 11 exposures including one accidental double-exposure on it for a total of 12 — a fully-exposed roll of 120 film!
Looks like the roll of film was used to capture one photo of each teenage child (two boys, one girl) in the family, after which it went traveling to Old Faithful in the NW corner of Wyoming, and then to a vacation spot on a lake with a view of the Rocky Mountains! Here’s a gallery of the photographs, in the order of exposure on the roll:
When were the photos taken? There are a bunch of visual clues in the photographs, which led us to guesstimate this roll was shot in the late 1970’s. After that, it seems the camera was left unused for 40+ years until it ended up at auction after the (likely) passing of the parent who took the photographs. Here are the clues we noticed in the photographs:
- The hairstyles of both boys, and wire-rimmed glasses on the older boy, are all circa late 1970’s (I had a pair of those glasses at 17 in 1979!)
- The clothes of the children, the family gazing at the Rockies (cut-off jean shorts, white athletic socks, etc.) and even the crowd gathered to watch Old Faithful erupt, all say late 70’s.
- The double-exposure: the swimming trunks on the boy to the right and rope-knot-patterned-sleeveless dress on the woman to the left say 1970’s.
- The hardcover edition of the book “Women in White” by Frank G. Slaughter, visible on the shelf to the left of the shirtless, older boy with the glasses, was published in 1974, so we know this roll of film was exposed after that.
- Oh yeah and that crocheted comforter on the chair behind the older boy with glasses says late 1970’s, when crocheting like that was happening…
- So our best guess is this roll is from 1978-1979 — what do you think?
Let us know if you agree with our sleuthing on this old roll of film, or if you want to comment on the photos themselves…
Hope you enjoyed these “found-film” images!
[C+F] Cameras+Films
What happens when we find undeveloped film? We develop it, of course!
Here at Cameras+Films, there’s always a piqued-curiosity, vaguely-voyeuristic, thrill-of-discovery moment whenever exposed, undeveloped film is found in an old camera. And, as you can imagine, our discovery is followed by impatient anticipation and speculation when the film is sent out to be developed:
- Will someone out there know anyone in the images we post from the roll?
- Will there be one or more interesting views into one or more lives on the roll?
- Will there be something myopic, historic, epic, simplistic, or even artistic?
- Will there be at least one or two good photographs, a whole roll of bad ones, or nothing at all on the film?
So, to satisfy your curiosity and ours, we are pleased to share images from any film we find in the vintage cameras we buy/use and sell. When available and relevant, we’ll share information about the camera-owner, the person who most likely exposed the film, and any items of interest which came with the camera…
Cameras+Films 