Solving a Found Film Mystery

Christmas in Detroit, 1948.  Shot with a Kodak Bantam Special on
Kodachrome, ASA10.  I am pretty sure that a flash was used here.

In 2018, I ended up with a small box of found film that my now-deceased friend, Marc Akeman had picked up at a Detroit area estate sale a few years earlier. Marc was always adept at finding estate sales and auctions and buying box lots of photographic items that eventually ended up in his basement. After his death in 2018, I spent some time organizing his photo gear estate for his family, and it wasn't until then that I realized he had hoarder tendencies.  I imagine that he intended to do something with all of the found negatives, slides, and prints that were still in the boxes he purchased them in, but he never had the chance.  I sorted out out a few things from one of the boxes - Kodachrome slides, black and white negatives, and some rolled up developed films, since it was obvious that they had a Detroit mailing address, and were from before 1950.  I'm always keen to see old Kodachromes, and I could see that there were quite a few boxes in the lot.

Of course, in my own life, I was preparing for a move to North Carolina, leaving Ann Arbor behind after 38 years, since my wife and I had retired from the Univ. Michigan.  Those finds via Marc went into a small box labeled "Found Film" and it was not until recently that I started going through a few of them.  Aside from one roll of medium format black and white negatives definitely of the NSFW genre, the remaining images are of post-war middle class Detroit family life, 1947-49.  

Same Christmas tree as above

I scanned in a Kodachrome slide for a Christmas-theme Instagram post, and realized that it was shot on 828, or Bantam film.  I was curious if the photographer had used a Kodak Bantam Special for the Kodachromes (Bantam film gives only 8 exposures on a roll), as the images were far better than a cheap bantam camera. Tonight, I was going through the earlier b&w scans, and voila! There were several black and white shots of his Kodak Bantam Special in a chair.  So, I found the camera that the photographer used.  I don't know what he used for the medium format, but they are 6x9 cm, so very likely a folding Kodak of some sort.

Still-life with Bantam Special.

I'm posting several of these b&w images along with the Kodachrome slide.  I'll eventually scan the other slides, but I may end up using a DSLR since the slide carroer for the Epson V700 crops out part of the image. The Bantam slides are larger than standard 35mm, even though they are in 2x2 slide holders.  All of the b&w images are from medium-format negatives.

Photographer's father?  Detroit News, Jan 17, 1949

Musical family

Finally, here is a wonderful example of the Kodak Bantam Special, photographed by me.

It's really too bad Kodak didn't make this a 35mm camera. It's design, by Walter Dorwin Teague, is an Art Deco wonder, and if you can respool 35mm with an 828 backing paper, you can still make use of it.

Quick Trip - One Camera

Last weekend I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan from Weaverville, NC. It's about 11 hrs on the road, including rest stops, etc.  The purpose was to drive Beverley's vehicle with her to Michigan, and then I would return by air to NC the next day, and Bev would continue on to her parents in Ontario.  I knew that there wouldn't be a lot of time for photography, and I felt that digital would prevent any missteps at the TSA check in. I have flown many times before with film cameras, but I felt that a DSLR would be the easiest course this time.  However, I wanted something light, inexpensive, and not bulky.  The best candidate that I had was this Canon EOS Rebel XSi with the 24mm f/2.8 EFS STM lens.  I could have just used my iPhone XR, but there are times when a DSLR is so much better.

The Canon EOS Rebel XSi, a 12 MP DSLR introduced in 2008.

Now you probably are thinking "what's going on with Mark, I thought he was a dedicated Nikon user?" If you know me well, you'd know that I like to have a big toolbox, and I chose this combo because - lightweight, compact, good results - 12.8 MP, sensor, sharp lens, and it barely extends beyond the flash/mirror box. The Rebel XSi certainly isn't the latest (introduced in 2008), but you know what? It doesn't need to be. In fact, the lens costs more than a used body. The Rebel XSi is still a pretty decent entry-level DSLR with a cropped sensor, hence the EF-S lenses.  For a pretty thorough review from 2008 go to: http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/camerareview/canon-rebel-xsi-review/

side view. Compact, eh?

With the 24mm pancake lens, the Rebel XSi is really lightweight and a lot of fun to shoot with. While the entry-level Nikons have a more refined feel and familiar user experience for me, I didn't have a DSLR that matched the Canon's attributes for this trip.  In fact, Nikon has nothing like the 24mm STM lens.  

I didn't shoot much on the road on the Saturday driving towards Michigan, but on Sunday I had some time to do some shooting in Ann Arbor.  I had breakfast at Zingerman's Road House on Maple Road, which was a real treat. The Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden was at its peak, and since Adrienne used to be the person in charge of it, I knew that she would love to see some images of it this year.  The 24mm lens (36 mm equivalent in full-frame) did a great job with closeups as well as the bigger picture.  A bit of a walk at the edge of campus, and then it was time for me to go to Detroit Metro (DTW) to get on a flight to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. I don't think I have ever seen so few people at DTW, and the line through the TSA checkpoint was very short.    It was my first time walking to the B concourse, and the big tunnel with the "light show" was new to me.  My flight back was uneventful, and Adrienne picked me up at the airport (which has all of 10 gates).  We then went back into Greenville for some dinner and a walk in the lovely Reedy River Falls Park.  Then it was back home to Weaverville!

It was a bit of a surreal weekend, driving N to Michigan and flying home the next day. On the way into Michigan along US-23, we were greeted by a number of new billboards adverstising the pot dispensaries in Ann Arbor. That was perhaps the biggest change since we left Michigan.  The images that follow are all from the Canon Rebel XSi. Some were shot on b&w, the rest shot in color.

I always loved the artwork associated with Zingerman's

The Circle-K station was built  just about the time we left in 2019.

Just say high!

Peony Garden Entrance

so many great peony flowers

UM School of Public Health

Observatory Lodge. I stayed there for a few days 1in 1981.

You can find some stark compositions at DTW

almost Hockney-ized

Really a cool spot

some parts are purer than others

PSA 

Reedy River Falls in Greenville, SC