I still remember the weight of my father’s 1930s box camera in my hands, the world upside down in its tiny viewfinder. That first click of the shutter drew me into a craft that has since evolved from careful rolls of film to the instant magic of digital images.
But it wasn’t taking the photo that intrigued me back then. It was rolling the film forward after taking a photo, watching a number in an even smaller window go round, that was more exciting. It told you how many photos you’d taken, so you knew how many were left to take, provided you knew how many photos were on the camera roll.
Back then, I’m talking about the late 1960s, you had to use the whole photo cartridge before carefully removing it from the camera and taking it to a place where the photos could be developed. In those days, it was usually the local chemist’s shop that developed the photos, but you had to wait a week or two before they were ready for collection.
Discovering ‘Photos by Post’, Mistakes and Another Photography World
In the 1970s, I remember being able to post photo film cartridges to a company called ‘Bonusprint.’ They would provide a prepaid envelope in which you could pop your film cartridge and payment. A couple of weeks later, your photos would arrive back by post.
Waiting for Prints
Viewing the photos for the first time was the height of excitement.
There were usually a few dud photos: the picture didn’t come out, a finger was over the lens, or the tops of people’s heads or the bottoms of their legs were cut off. Sometimes you could end up with a photo or two of people or places you had no idea about. But it never spoiled the excitement of looking at photos for the first time, unless none of them came out properly.
Photos would always come back with the negatives, something I always smiled at as I looked at the photos in their negative form. It was like looking into another world with no colour. True colour film became practical for consumers from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, though black-and-white remained common for years after.
Instant Photos, Flashbulbs and Stuff You Shouldn’t Have Seen
I remember us getting our own Polaroid camera that gave us instant photos. This was a huge technological advance. No more waiting weeks for photos to come back. After taking the photo, you had to hold it as it came out of the camera and wave it around to dry while the picture developed. It was like a little piece of magic happening in front of you.
Nighttime photography was only possible if you attached a flash to the camera. Flashbulbs were expensive and could often ruin a photo if used incorrectly, as well as dazzle your eyes.
In the 1980s, I recall standing outside a Boots the Chemist branch, watching photos being developed. A machine would churn them out one by one in the window, so you could see them all. People’s lives would flash past you as you stood there. Sometimes you’d get to see rather more than you anticipated!
Photo Albums, Fading Memories, And People We Don’t Know
After viewing photos, they would often end up in a drawer in the envelope they came in, along with the negatives. They would be taken out a few times for viewing, often at family gatherings such as Christmas or birthday parties. But as time went on, they’d reach the end of their viewing days and wouldn’t see the light of day again until the place they were in was cleared out.
Photo albums were also popular, sometimes with written information about what and who was in the photos, along with when and where they were taken. These albums would play a big part for a few months, often left on a coffee table, before being moved into a cupboard, the back of a wardrobe, or onto a shelf, where they would gather dust, and the memories would fade.
Before my last remaining aunt died in 2022, I would often sit with her and go through the photos she kept in a large suitcase. She must have had over a thousand photos in there. She’d tell me who was in them and where they were taken, but, as is often the case, there were photos she had no idea who the subjects were. She was the last connection to many of the people in those photos. Once she died, most of the memories were lost forever, apart from a few of the photos she gave me. Sadly, we never reached the bottom of the suitcase.
The first three photos in this post were from that large suitcase. Fortunately, she knew everyone in them and told me who they were. Their memories now live with me.
From Photography Challenges to Digital Stories
Fast-forward to 2014, when I discovered the world of blogging. I was delighted to find that photography was central to blogging. By then, I was taking all my photos on an iPhone.
It wasn’t long before I discovered a whole new world when I stumbled upon a photography challenge run by Cee Neuner, a blogger who sadly passed away last year. The theme was ‘Angles.’ I submitted my first photo and was delighted when, a week later, Cee featured it on her blog. That fuelled my passion for photography and for photography challenges. It wasn’t long before I was taking part in many other photography challenges, each a gateway to new blogging communities.
Although I don’t participate in photography challenges as much as I used to, they are an excellent way to watch your audience grow and make new friends. There are many photography challenges out there, but two that immediately come to mind, which I sometimes still take part in, are Sunday Stills, hosted by Terri Webster Schrandt, and Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.
“I’ve been looking through the past and what it means to me.’”These are the opening lyrics of a brand-new song about photography, by Paul Ariss.
Paul is a screenwriter, musician and blogger, and blogs at SONGS AND SCRIPTS AND DUNKING BISCUITS. He’s written a post, HOW THE BURDEN OF SORTING MEMORIES BECAME A VIDEO TRIBUTE, about looking at old photos, which inspired this post. Thank you, Paul!
As I look back at those fading prints and scroll through today’s crisp digital images, I’m reminded that it was never just about the cameras or the technology, but about the people, memories, and moments they captured.
From waiting days for an envelope of developed film to tapping a screen and seeing a photo appear instantly, photography has always been my way of holding on to loved ones and cherished memories, especially those that make me smile on a bad day. Perhaps it’s the same for you.
What is the story behind the first photo you took? Do you still have photos and negatives lying in drawers, or have you moved to digital? Do you take part in any photography blogging challenges? Which ones do you enjoy most? Do you have a favourite photo? Who or what is in it, and when was it taken?
How many of the photos in this post do you think I appear in? Which ones? Can you spot me?
The featured image in this post was created using the WordPress image generator. AI was used to check for grammar and spelling mistakes and to help with the layout of the post.
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