5 Frames From Images in Hiding

I have bought some lots of mixed cameras and photo bits recently from a local auction house, two of the cameras turned out to be carrying antique part-used 120 films, and another box had a roll of exposed but undeveloped 120 Verichrome Pan in it amongst a load of photo junk. If you can call Zeiss filters and a Rolleiflex hood junk.

I have found undeveloped films in acquired cameras before but had never been able to retrieve images from them, either the cameras had been opened and the film ruined, or the films have turned out to be blank. One film that might have been worth developing was inside a camera with a seized back, gently prising it open resulted in the roll of FP4 120 film leaping out suicidally and unrolling across the floor.

But these 3 films finally produced some results, in the form of images that appear to have spent 70 or 80 years waiting to be revealed. I can never really get my head around why someone goes to the trouble of carrying a camera loaded with film, composes and takes some photographs, but then has no interest in seeing how they turn out. Of course there may be a good explanation, buying a new toy and losing interest in the old camera being foremost among them in my experience.

To develop them I followed some of the advice on the internet about developing these old films and ended up with much the same method as Brian Moore  did for his Kodacolor-X. It is a long way from my developing comfort zone but one that has resulted in retrieving scanned images, but they are definitely not great negatives.

The method was:
Pre-soak – 5 minutes.
Develop – Rodinal (Fomadon R09) 1+100 for 1 hour inverting half way through 4 times.
Stop and fix as per manufacturers instructions.
Wash for 5-10 minutes.
All at 20 degrees centigrade.

i have also used the same method since, but without the pre-soak, for several colour negative 35mm films and a Disc film that I thought would be blank and retrieved images from each.

The first 2 photos come from a roll of Ensign Panchromatic film that was in a Kodak No2 Folding Autographic Brownie. The red window was showing frame 4 so I wound on to 5 and took the remaining 4 frames. The film shows everything that can go wrong with old film; fogging, mould, cracking emulsion and so on. In case you are wondering the photos show a young child in a snowy garden, the first one with a snowman, the second sitting on a very smart sledge. There is a label on the camera strap saying ‘Ethel Wynne Roberts’, I have tried but failed to find a record of anyone by that name. Is this her son or daughter smiling out from the photos?.

I also can’t find out much about Ensign Panchromatic film other than it ‘was made from 1946’. so the camera could already have been considered vintage when these photos were taken. The winter of 1946/7 is one that stuck in my parents memory for the cold and snow, if they were taken that winter these images have spent 80 years waiting to be realised.

The next image comes from a roll of Verichrome Pan I found in a Ensign Ful-vue, the early post-war model. Again the red window showed number 4, but from 12 6×6 frames rather than the 8 6×9’s of the Kodak. I finished the film and developed it. On the inside of the camera’s case writing says ‘Sophie Thomas’ who must have tried some artistic photos of the hay rake and then given up and forgotten about the camera and it’s contents, this is the only one that has come out well enough to be shown.

The Ful-vue is not a camera I had ever wanted to own, but I was surprised. For what is basically a box camera with a large viewfinder masquerading as a small TLR it is fine, easy to use and takes good photos in the right conditions. Verichrome Pan had a long production period and the backing paper seems to have stayed similar throughout. The cameras and the subjects would seem to suggest both this film and the next were from the late 1950’s or early 60’s.

Finally these are the only retrievable images from the exposed roll of Verichrome Pan I found in the box of photo bits. I was unsure if it was worth the effort developing as the roll had come unsealed and the end of the backing paper was loose. As it turned out these 2 were the only ones recognisable as negatives. They were the first on the film, the third image was present but obscured and after that the film was fogged. So who are they? and where? and when? Could they be mother and daughter taking a photo of each other on a day out at the seaside? Or was a third person the photographer? The clothing is very 1950’s, but the location could be almost any British beach promenade of the period.

I am sure there is something philosophical to write here, perhaps around latent memories lasting longer than real ones, but I will leave that to someone else as it would be well beyond my writing ability. Feel free to pen something meaningful in the comments.

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