Centerville

119 US 40, Centerville
Kodak Baby Brownie
Kodak Ektar 100
2018

I sold my Kodak Baby Brownie recently, to someone who’d had one many years ago and wanted to relive old memories. You might recall this tiny camera had its turn in Operation Thin the Herd and I decided not to keep it. It languished on my For Sale page for months.

As I packed and shipped it I looked back at some of the images I made with it. I like the composition of this one, but the lab didn’t get the film flat before they scanned it. I find that most labs struggle to scan the odd sizes. I’ll bet they have to scan them by hand.

Then there are those light leaks. Could be the camera, could be the hand-cut and -rolled film I bought on eBay. I wanted to shoot Ektar in this tiny box, because Ektar has been a solid performer in every box I’ve put it into. My other options involved films I’d never shot before, one called Rera Pan and another called Rollei Crossbird — the last 127 films still manufactured.


Comments

6 responses to “single frame: 119 US 40, Centerville”

  1. Heide Avatar
    Heide

    Too bad about the light leaks — though they do frame your image nicely, in a “happy accident” sort of way.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Fortunately the leaks are only around the edges and provide that framing. I just revisited some photos I made back in 2011 from a camera that leaked like a sieve. That accident was not so happy.

  2. M.B. Henry Avatar

    It is a fun experience looking back at pictures taken on old cameras :) It’s like wondering through your memories! I’m sorry about the leaks but I agree with what was said above, they kind of add to the photo! :)

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I have a hankering to shoot with nothing but old boxes all summer, to keep getting these vintage looks! Life is so, so busy with things that keep me from photography right now — we’ll see how it goes.

  3. Olli Thomson Avatar

    I saw a collection of Kodak Brownies on a recent visit to the V&A in London. I remember as a kid my grandfather had a Brownie and I’m sure some of the picture ofd myself and my brother as kids currently residing in a box in my brother’s attic were taken with a Brownie. I wonder what ever happened to it? Old memories indeed. The light leaks work nicely with the red of the flowers.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      It’s good that your brother still has the photos — millions of lost family photos were taken with box Brownies!

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