Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

By David Pauley

While as a rule I am open to experimentation in photography, I have not dealt much with expired films, despite my admiration for the results many photographers are able to coax from them. At the core this speaks to a kind of conservativism within me, an anxiety about things outside my control. Given the large number of variables present even when changing from one modern film stock to another, I have shied away from introducing a further wild card in the form of emulsions whose expiration dates — and general reliability — are long past.

Heading Up to the Summit

This reluctance changed during a recent family vacation to Greece, when a young Bulgarian photographer, spying the Rolleiflex around my neck, approached me to chat. Almost as an afterthought as we were saying goodbye, he handed me a roll of Orwo NP 22, an East German film (expiration date 1991) that until the fall of the Berlin Wall was common in Eastern Europe.

Film Box (iPhone photo)

Although the young man wasn’t sure about the conditions in which this particular box had been stored, he had already shot several rolls from the same batch and felt sure I would get interesting results as long as I reduced the ISO by about 60% from box speed to account for a decrease in the film’s light sensitivity over three decades. Not having any similar rarities to offer, I reciprocated with a roll of Tri-X 400, which he was gracious enough to accept.

Agape

Although this chance meeting happened on Crete at the start of my trip, I resolved to wait till I arrived in Athens to use this film, saving it for the visit to the Acropolis that would mark the end of our holiday. This wasn’t my first time on that fabled promontory; on a previous visit, I shot Kodak Gold in 35mm format. Although those pictures turned out fine, they failed to convey the grandeur and — for me, as a New Yorker — the dizzying antiquity of the place. Seeking a more classic look, I determined to shoot black-and-white this time around, with an orange filter for drama, on my Rolleiflex 2.8F. Given the arrival of sunny weather, conditions seemed ideal for using this 34 year-old film.

Doors

Loading the Orwo NP 22 presented no problems, though the salmon-pink backing paper — an incongruous design in an otherwise drab package — surprised me. The only hitch came after the last exposure as I was cranking the film onto the take-up spool. For a minute, the Rollei seemed to seize; the crank moved laboriously and was accompanied by grinding and what seemed like the sound of paper shredding. When I opened the camera to retrieve the film, however, all looked as it should. This mystery, which has not recurred, is beyond my capacity to explain; thankfully it didn’t seem to have any impact on the final images.

Rafters

Although my benefactor suggested using Kodak Xtol to develop the film, as I don’t keep that developer in my darkroom I opted for Kodak HC-110 instead, choosing the “E” dilution as recommended by several authors online and the Massive Film Development Chart. Scanning the film later, I was very pleased with its performance. While the negatives are far from pristine — there are plenty of irregularities, mainly splotches, the largest of which I touched up in post — they give the photos an old-timey character that seemed unusually well suited to my subject matter. Although I also shot some Portra on the Acropolis with the Rollei, as seen below, I don’t think the images are nearly as soulful as those made from this antique roll of film.

Same day, Different Century (Portra 400)
Caryatids on the Athena Temple

A special thank you to Ivelin Penchev, the Bulgarian photographer who gifted me this film. Ivelin is a leader in the film revival in his home city of Gobrovo; you can visit his website at radlabstudio.com.

Thank you for reading.

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About The Author

By David Pauley
I'm a Brooklyn-based photographer and psychoanalyst. My journey with photography began in middle school in the late 1970s and revived in 2019 when I bought a used film camera and installed a darkroom in my basement. For 2025 I've decided to use just one camera, a Rolleiflex 2.8F, to document the year.
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Comments

Ron Duda on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Great Story! Great piece! I find using very expired film a quite risky business.
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Thanks, Ron! While I was pleased with the results this time, I definitely would never rely on expired film on an important shoot. Funnily enough I did shoot some Portra and Tri-X that day but liked the Orwo results better...! Thanks for reading.

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Martin on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Fine read, thanks a lot. The shredding noise was most likely Zeus reminding that he's still in charge there ;-)
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

LOL, thank you Martin! That explains everything ...! Cheers.

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Ibraar Hussain on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Thanks for this, enjoyed reading about your experience and the Film gives the monuments and ruins a timeless look! brilliant!
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Thank you so much Ibraar!

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Gary Smith on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

David, it seems that you did well with your gifted film. I particularly like the shot entitled: "Caryatids on the Athena Temple".

I'm not very adventurous with my film selections as when I'm shooting film I'm very conservative and it would annoy me to no end if the time spent on a shot was ruined by the film. It's bad enough when I ruin a shot all by myself.
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 25/05/2025

Hi Gary, this was definitely not without risks and an adventure I'm unlikely to repeat anytime soon. Agreed about being able to screw things up well enough on my own without the confounding factor of an iffy emulsion. Cheers!

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Kodachromeguy on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Fantastic! This roll of Orwo turned out very well. Possibly there is some mottling in the sky. A year with the Rolleiflex - you are giving me an idea for the rest of 2025.
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Thanks so much! Definitely mottling in the sky, that's an excellent description. I haven't attempted any prints yet but will do so... it should be interesting to see how the images resolve or fail to resolve on paper. Please feel free to join me on my Rollei journey (though I give myself a holiday every once in a while).

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Geoff Chaplin on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Excellent post and evocative b&w images. The film obviously held up well. I shot 20 or so year out dated np15 and np27 and got some interesting results https://www.35mmc.com/13/01/2024/ancient-orwo-film-ancient-agfa-rodinal-ancient-camera-lens-and-photographer/. Now you've prompted me I'll try some old colour film in my 'flex and cross develop in Pyro!
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Hi Geoff, I love the results you got from those other Orwo films! The images seem reminiscent of those I got on the Acropolis. I've never tried cross processing c41 films in black and white chemistry. Would love to see your results! Long live Rollei!

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Scott Ferguson on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Hi David,
Fascinating post. I like that you saved the long-expired film for the main attraction, and I think the results are very cool. Your shots of the Parthenon are great and feel like they could have been taken when Rolleiflexes first came onto the market as opposed to a month ago. It helps that you managed to avoid seeing people in modern dress (wondering how you did that on the shots of the caryatids) and agree that the color shot feels mundane by comparison. Speaking of mundane shots of the the Parthenon, I visited the Acropolis about 4 years ago to go to a Brian Eno concert. I wish I had been shooting with film cameras then, but will console myself with my iPhone photos and the memories of an amazing day capped off by an epic concert. Shooting expired East German film brings thoughts of what other nefarious activities they used that film for back in the era of Stasi and the surveillance state. When I first started shooting just about a year ago, I was pretty relaxed about shooting on all kinds of stocks whether it was Tri-X or Lomo of indeterminate age or something a little off the main road like Phoenix, but my early results were so mixed that part of my troubleshooting was to shoot only with newly purchased stocks of the major brands. After servicing the cameras and getting more experience, I've started to be more adventuresome and open to trying out a wider range of film stocks.
My latest 'project' was trying out as many b&w stocks as I could over the last couple of months, which is rolling out in a 3 part series here on 35mmc. I don't know if I'd actively seek out expired stocks at this point, but I'd probably be open to an experiment like yours if something as cool as a roll of Orwo fell into my hands.
Great stuff and I look forward to your next post(s).
s
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Hi Scott, thanks for reading and sharing your reflections. Brian Eno on the Acropolis sounds pretty amazing! There was quite a crowd there on the day we visited but with the Orwo I waited for folks to exit the frame, hoping that a timeless look might surface ... if anything were to surface at all. Best of luck with your series on different film stocks - I will look forward to reading.

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Jeffery Luhn on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

David,
The shot of the Athena Temple was my favorite. It could have been taken 80 years ago. How did you manage it without the crowds? I've been to the Acropolis several times and the crowds have gotten worse, plus the needed restoration projects with scaffolding everywhere kills the shot. It's such a remarkable monument so it's on everyone's list. You did a very good job capturing some good views! The only time I was there on a quiet day was on the day the world cup was being played!!! As for outdated film....You have more courage than me. Thanks for posting good pix with a TLR. I love my Rollei!!!
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Thank you Jefffey! There was a substantial crowd on the Acropolis when we were there, but thankfully there were lulls when folks would clear out of the frame for enough time to take the shot. The Athena Temple is my favorite shot too. I had to crop to remove some electrical wires/flood lights, definitely not the vibe I was going for! Thanks so much.

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Alexander Seidler on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

I like your results and framing !
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Thank you so much, Alexander!

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Paul Quellin on Photographing the Acropolis with an Antique Roll of Film

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Great story David, makes me want to find more expired films. I tend to just deal with what comes out of any cold cameras I have acquired. This film served you really well for this subject. To my eye, there was something really 1930s about the last frame in the article. Though I don't recall using any, I do remember Orwo films in the early 80s. I am not sure if there might have been someone in the local photographic society who used some Owrwo Chrom slide film. Enjoyable read and photographs, thank you.
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David Pauley replied:

Comment posted: 26/05/2025

Thank you Paul! I didn't know that Orwo made Chromes as well, I've been shooting Ektachrome 100 lately but have no idea how those kinds of emulsions would hold up with age. Thanks also for the kind words about the 1930s vibe.

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