My Own Personal Way Back Machine

Today’s story begins thusly:

Soooooooooooo, I’d had this roll of film hanging out in a spare camera bag since 2006. Every once in awhile, I’d run across said roll of film, tossing it aside once again, figuring I’d get ’round to developing it one of these days. That was, until a few weeks ago, when I realized “There’s no time like the present!”

Of course, since these undeveloped photos were made 5 years ago, I only had faint memories as to what I might have captured on those 12 frames back then. All I knew for sure was that the camera I’d used for the photos was a beat up old Rolliecord IV TLR from the early 1950s, which I’d gotten my hands on by means I’m not at liberty to divulge at this time (so mysterious!)

The roll of film in question was my “test roll” in the Rolleicord. As a  rule, when a new (or “new to me”) camera comes into my life, I blaze through a test roll so I can see what I’m working with (or if something about the camera doesn’t work.) I’m not even particularly careful with the artistic merit of photos on this roll- it’s just for utilitarian purposes, you see. Well, I blazed through the Rollei’s test roll alright, but then didn’t take it to be developed before I began shooting other rolls with the camera. The Rollei worked pretty well, so I never bothered taking the first roll for development (see also: my Rollei shots taken and actually developed back then.)

So, what were the results of this little trip back in time? Nothing particularly earth-shaking. But I enjoyed the ability to hop in the way back machine with these photos, seeing what I’d bothered snapping when I needed to test out the Rolleicord.

Vegan cookbooks I’d just gotten in 2006. Now, that one on top has been used so much that it has fallen apart and the pages are all stained. Makes me want to order a shiny new copy of the book again!

Um, the front cap to the 1954 Plymouth Belvedere I bought when I was a teenager but never got to drive…and soda cans that were set aside for recycling. Very artistic, right???

A relic from the 2004 presidential election…I am sure I must have been going for “irony” with this photo

Okay, I kind of like this one. I see where I was going with it.

This was worth the price of admission for me. A never-before-seen photo of my niece, Little AM, when she really was little! Aged approx. 4.5 years! And she’ll be a 4th grader this year! My heart is breaking as we speak.

In conclusion, there was nothing on this forgotten roll of film that would have won me a Pulitzer if only I’d taken it to a photo lab in 2006. But, still, it was a bit of fun seeing these new-to-me photos.

Now, to hunt down any other film that might have slipped through the cracks over the years…