Photographer Mychal Watts recently stumbled across an old 1920s-era Kodak Series II camera in a small shop in New York. Enamored with the piece of his

Photographer Discovers Undeveloped Film Inside 1920s Kodak Camera | PetaPixel

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2021-05-28 14:30:06

Photographer Mychal Watts recently stumbled across an old 1920s-era Kodak Series II camera in a small shop in New York. Enamored with the piece of history, he bought it after he found that it still held an undeveloped roll of 120 format film inside.

Watts, who is a professional photographer based in New York City, tells PetaPixel that he was on his way home after photographing a protest when he stumbled on a small shop near Bryant Park.

“Walking past this one shop, on display were these classic bellows cameras,” he says. Unable to contain his curiosity, he went inside to check them out. “I picked up this one camera to examine it. It was a 1923 Kodak Pocket camera series ll with a bellows.”

Upon close examination, Watts noticed that the back was stuck closed due to age and he had to work it with a bit of effort to open it up. When it did finally relent, it popped open to reveal a roll of 120 format film, which immediately fogged because he inadvertently exposed it to light. He shut it as soon as he noticed the film and quickly purchased the camera for $99.

“Being a master photo lab tech from my days making a living working in the darkroom, I realized the development had to compensate for the age of the film and the fog from opening the back,” he says. “It would have to be push processed to compensate for a serious loss in contrast from aging and fog.”