My sister e-mailed me another photo of our parents. [This was the other.]
They're on our front porch here with their third and last child, my brother, born in 1970.
My sister sent it to me because we were reminiscing about our mother's clothes, and I mentioned this dress with a Marimekko-like pattern she wore a lot. (She's wearing a fisherman's short-sleeved cotton sweater here too.)
Sister asked me if I knew who took the photo, and I do:
little me, with my Brownie box camera. I remember it was a happy afternoon. Four years later, my parents divorced.
The camera was outdated even in 1970––I'd bought it cheap at the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift store (I have a history with thrift stores).
I loved how you look down into the viewfinder, and I remember threading the fresh film into the take-up spool and the peculiar chemically smell of the film packet.
A few years ago someone set a box of old cameras out with the trash, and I rescued a Brownie < Hawkeye, just because it's beautiful.
Today I looked it over. It's a pretty basic machine and it seems to be in working order.
I called a local camera store and they carry 120 film for it, and I found instructions on loading it here, so I'm going to give it a try.
I was reminded of what a great deal digital photography is, though:
the film is about $5 for a roll, and then you have to pay for development too. Of course you don't need an expensive machine to look at the pictures.
I had the same camera. It had been my grandfather's. I loved that camera. I used to read the directions over and over, but I could never quite figure out what was what with photography. That didn't stop me from taking rolls and rolls of photographs. I can still remember the smell of the film and the inside of the camera.
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ReplyDeleteELAINE: Hey, cool--you remember that smell too! I asked another friend yesterday and she did too.
Heh, luckily one doesn't have to understand the directions to take photos––even very good ones!