Photographer Develops Long-Lost Film Discovered In Antique Camera
What’s the most impressive thing you’ve ever found in a thrift store? Maybe a cool piece of clothing or a toy from your childhood? Well, when Martijn van Oers stumbled upon an antique camera in a Dutch thrift shop, he knew he had discovered a great find! At the time, the photographer only thought he had found a vintage camera. However, when he got it home, Oers found something even more incredible inside…
While cleaning his find, Oers uncovered a long-lost roll of film, still stuck inside the camera. Soon enough, the mysterious roll led the photographer on the most fantastic journey through time!
Martijn van Oers, Photographer
Martijn van Oers has loved cameras and photography for as long as he can remember. Even as a young child, he loved standing behind the lens and framing his shot. After using his father’s camera as a boy, Oers bought his first as a teenager and never looked back. For the rest of his teen years, while his friends went to parties, Oers spent his time wanting his home town of Breda, photographing old buildings and abandoned places.
While Oers does not hate modern cameras, he has a passion for old photographs and vintage cameras. Which, not too long ago, led him to a camera hunting trip in a particular Dutch thrift shop…
A Diamond In The Rough
After high school, Oers realized that he wanted to make photography his whole life, not just a simple weekend hobby. He sees photography as the purest form of expression, preservation, and, most important of all, storytelling. After all, images capture real life! These days, Oers works as a freelancer with high profile clients.
Of course, as a photographer, Oers is also a camera enthusiast. So, when he spotted a vintage Zeiss Ikon 520/2 at a local thrift store, it immediately caught his eye. Even better, the old camera looked practically unused – what a find! “I normally shoot all my photos with high-end gear. So working with an old-school piece of equipment seemed like a lot of fun,” Oers said.
A Hidden Treasure
The Dutch thrift shop had plenty of cameras, but only the antique camera caught Oers’ attention. He had plenty of ways to use it and also thought his wife would like it. There was only one problem: Oers actually knew little to nothing about the camera he held in his hands!
Despite studying the history of photography and cameras for many ears, Oers had never come across a Zeiss Ikon 520/2. So, when he looked at the price, roughly $50, he had no idea if it was a steal or a rip-off. Still, something inside Oers told him to buy the camera. After all, he had spent much, much more than on equipment before! Without too much thought, Oers purchased the camera, unknowingly triggering an incredible chain of events…
Taking The Vintage Camera Home
When he arrived home, Oers took a better look at the camera in his workshop. There, he discovered it was even better condition than he had thought – it was nearly pristine! Taking a second look at it, Oers decided the thrift store gem would make an excellent gift for his wife! While Oers’ wife did not take many pictures herself, she loved the look of antique cameras.
“When I came home and gave the camera to my wife as a gift, she was over the moon. After dinner I told her I was considering using the camera to take pictures with, since all the mechanics from the camera seemed to be in pristine condition,” Oers told the Daily Mail in 2017. Even if the camera did not work, the photographer simply felt happy that his wife loved the camera!
A Surprise Waiting Inside
Later that day, Oers decided to open the camera up and inspect the inside. That’s when he discovered that the camera had much more to offer than he initially thought.
When Oers opened the camera, he could not believe his eyes: he saw red and yellow colors poking out from inside. He had found a roll of film, still tucked inside the vintage camera! Taking it out, Oers noticed that the film was very old and had the word “EXPOSE” emblazoned across it. The photographer could not help but wonder: who could this film belong to – and were they even still alive?
Reaching Out For Help
“I wanted to see if the camera still worked, if everything opened, and if the wheels were still turning. To my great surprise, there was a roll,” Oers told the Dutch Broadcast Foundation. However, what truly shocked him was the word “expose” on the film. “I thought that probably meant that the roll has been exposed and used.”
Taking a look at the roll of film, it did seem to have been exposed. That meant someone’s photos could be on there! As a photography lover, Oers knew that he needed to return the images to their owner, if there were any. Unfortunately, the photographer had no idea how to start finding the owner. So, Oers began at the only place he could think of: the camera.
Looking Into The Camera
As a film enthusiast, Oers knew quite a little about developing film. However, in order to start developing the pictures he had discovered, he would need to know everything he could about the camera and its film.
After a few hours of research, Oers managed to learn quite a bit about the vintage camera he purchased. “I found out the camera was built around 1929 and the film was produced between the 1940s and the 1970s,” he explained to Bored Panda. With that in mind, Oers understood that the chances of him developing photos from the ancient film were slim to none…
Giving it a Shot
While Oers understood that he did not have a good chance of developing the photos from the old film, he wasn’t about to give up before even trying. Still, he would need some serious help! So, Oers called his good friend, friend, film developer Johan Holleman, to help him expose the images. However, even though Holleman had decades of film development experience under his belt, he also agreed the challenge would prove next to impossible.
“My friend Johan Holleman, who has been developing his own films for most of his life, kindly offered to develop it for me. He warned me the chances to recover the vintage photos were very slim, considering the guesstimated age of the film,” Oers said.
Faint Outlines
The next Tuesday, Oers found himself in Holleman’s kitchen, helping him develop the old photos. While inspecting the negatives, the two men felt surprised to see the faint outline of people and places. Oers and Holleman both felt their jaws drop. “The moment the processed film was taken from the container, we were both stunned, as there actually seemed to be old photos on the negatives,” Oers said. Somehow, the images had survived on the film for all those decades!
Shaking with excitement, the two men got to work, wasting no time! But, as anyone with experience can tell you, the process of developing film is not easy, even at the best of times. This time around, Holleman and Oers would find themselves pushed to the brink…
Developing the Film
According to Oers, the process of film development requires “knowledge, timing, patience, and accuracy.” However, in this particular case, waiting for the old photos to develop felt like pure torture. Patience continued to elude Oers!
“[The waiting] was difficult, I am extremely impatient,” Oers revealed to the Dutch Broadcast Foundation. In fact, his impatience almost resulted in the film becoming unusable, as Oers wanted to cut corners! “At the end I even convinced [Holleman] to dry the roll with a hair dryer. That is actually very dangerous, but I had to have those things under the scanner. Fortunately, it had no impact on quality.”
A Photo Become Clearer
As the images became clearer and clearer, Oers and his friend felt amazed to watch history come alive before their eyes. By the end of the first week, the men had managed to develop four photos that appeared to show a young couple enjoying a vacation. To Oers, the entire process seemed like magic or a strange time machine.
“We scanned the negatives and found four images had enough detail in them to tell that the last time this camera was used,” Oers told Bored Panda afterward. “It belonged to a man – who’s even in one of the pictures, carrying the camera’s case – who probably brought his expensive piece of gear on one of his travels.”
Faded Black-and-White Images
In one of the old black-and-white photos, a woman can be seen posing beside the ocean. To her left, it’s possible to make out the ocean and a bridge in the distance. Meanwhile, behind the woman lies a stone wall and a boulevard with others walking by, likely also enjoying a day out by the sea.
Then, in another great snap, what appears to be the same woman can be seen walking up a steep promenade. A third photo shows the woman sunbathing on the beach. As Oers and Holleman continued to work, more and more photos emerged from the depths of the water. However, all Oers could wonder was: who were these people? And how did they lose their camera in the first place?
Studying the Images
Soon, Oers and Holleman saved another image: this one of a man reclining against a wall, with a camera case hanging from his shoulder! Now, with the old photos finally processed, Oers could new study them closely to try to discover their origin. “We tried to estimate when the picture was taken, but that is a bit of a wet job. Based on the clothing and the scene, it must have been somewhere in the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s,” he later told the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation.
Not knowing where else to turn, Oers decided to share his incredible discovery on Facebook. He hoped that maybe one of his followers would know the locations in the photos, or perhaps even the people in them! After posting the images, all Oers could do was wait…
Finding Answers
The internet is a wonderful place. Within a few hours, Oers had many of his followers offering to help find the images’ owners! “After putting the images up on my Facebook page, one of my contacts, Wilco, quickly commented that the place looked an awful lot like Biarritz. – a city in the French Basque Country in southwestern France,” he told Bored Panda.
Indeed, it turned out that Wilco knew Biarritz quite well! Shortly after that, Wilco sent Oers some GoogleEarth screenshots that quickly confirmed that the couple in question had been vacationing in the French town. Every hour, it seemed that Oers was one step closer to finding the owner of the vintage camera.
One Step Closer
“After sending me a Google Streetview image, I was immediately convinced the images were indeed shot in Biarritz,” Oers told the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation. “We thought it would take a lot of effort to find out the location. But that was done in half an hour!”
Still, while Oers now knew where the pictures were taken, he had yet to find the owners, his real mission. “Looking at the images, I feel I stumbled across a small treasure-chest – or time capsule – giving us a tiny glimpse into the past. It really makes me want to find out who the people in the pictures are,” Oers wrote in his Facebook post.
The Rightful Owner
After finding the location of the images, Oers thought he had managed a significant breakthrough. However, from there, he found himself at a brick wall. Despite help from his followers, Oers could not find any more information about the couple in the photos. The photographer tried to keep his spirits up, but could not help but think that his journey might have come to an end.
“Hopefully, one day, I will be able to hand over these negatives to the descendants of this mystery photographer,” Oers wrote in a later Facebook post. Little did he know that someone would soon reach out with the very answers he so desperately desired…
Reaching Out
As luck would have it, about a week after posting the photos, a Dutch woman called Marion Jurrjens recognized the images when she saw them online. Jurrjens claimed that they were none other than her grandparents, Theo Lammers and Elisabeth Lammers-Beveling. According to Jurrenjs, her grandparents had visited Biarritz at one point, losing their beloved camera on the trip. Soon enough, members of Jurrjens’ family brought forward proof of their claims!
“After I had developed the photographs my one wish was to find the descendants of the people in the pictures. So that I would send them the negatives and camera. Then, I got a message from [Jurrjens],” Oers told the Daily Mail. Now, everyone wanted to know how Jurrjens had found the photos!
First Learning About The Photos
While Jurrjens is also Dutch, she moved to Canada in 2004. Of course, like many ex-pats, Jurrjens kept up with the news of her home country. So, when a Dutch newspaper printed a story about the vintage camera and film, they shared it online. And Jurrjens recognized the photos at once!
Indeed, as Marion Jurrjens had suspected, the old camera did belong to the man in the photographs, her grandfather, Thoe Lammers. Apparently, he had worked as an architect and used photography equipment as part of his job. However, as cameras were costly back then, Lammers also took it on vacation with him, to keep it safe. Now, Oers had to return the camera, photos, and film. And he had a perfect idea how…
A Crowdfunding Page
As a freelancer, Oers did not exactly have the money to jump on a plane to Canada. But he wanted to hand-deliver the images to Jurrjens! So, Oers started a crowdfunding page. Then, in August 2017, he announced he’d received enough donations for his flight in a Facebook post. “So in September I travel to Canada to hand over Marion the camera!” Oers revealed.
While this story got the happy ending it deserved, Oers had something he needed to do first. You see, before jetting off, he had to break the news to his wife that he was taking her gift. “I’m not sure how she’ll react when I tell her I’m giving away her present,” he joked to the Daily Mail. Now, the images are finally back where they belong…
Quite the Archiver
“My grandfather was also meticulous in everything and wrote the date and place in white ink on the photo itself. Himself, my grandma and auntie traveled extensively and documented all their travels. So, I have plenty of pictures of them,” Jurrjens continued.
Even though Jurrjens already had lots of family memories, she said there’s always plenty of room for more. “I love all of the pictures and I would like to keep them all together as that is how they are meant to be. My house is already rather full, since my grandfather was also a painter. But I hope I can find a spot to put them on the wall so I can remember this whole event,” she said.
A Revelation
“When I saw the pictures in the paper I felt that it was really special that the pictures were of them,” Marion Jurrjens told Daily Mail. However, Jurrjens still wondered how the old camera had become separated from her family in the first place.
“I began to wonder how the camera came to the thrift shop. My aunt was a hoarder and normally refused to get rid of things. When [she] died in 2003 I emptied her apartment and collected 10 photo albums that belonged to my grandparents. I took them to Canada with me. So I instantly recognized [the photos],” she continued.
Family’s Inheritance
Marion Jurrjens inherited several valuable items from her grandparents. These, of course, included portraits of them, as well as photographs of them enjoying a picnic by a highway in 1954. However, Jurrjens was in little doubt that the images that Oers had uncovered would make exceptional additions to her collections of family photos.
Just a year after finding the photos, Oers hand-delivered the negatives, photos, and camera to Jurrjens in Canada. Now, they keep in regular contact! “We started to chat on a daily basis,” Oers told Daily Mail. However, the photographer says he made much more than a friend over this adventure. Oers says the film changed his life!
Feeling Emotional
For Oers, the discovery of the old camera completely changed his life. “I was so shocked that we had developed a film that’s been untouched inside a camera for decades. And we have been able to find pictures of people on them and then be able to find the descendants,” he said. It’s an indescribable feeling.”
What’s more, the photographer said he will forever remember this chapter long after returning the camera to its rightful owner. However, to make sure he didn’t forget about the old photos, he created a little souvenir. “I have had large prints made of the images. They’re definitely going to go up on a wall in my house,” he told Daily Mail.
Looking For Old Photograph Equipment
Given the incredible value of his thrift store find, Oers’ view of old photography equipment for sale has also completely changed. “I will be sure to check the inside of any vintage camera I come across from now on. If I find one that’s holding a film, I’ll definitely buy it,” he said.
After all, the photographer never expected to find such incredible memories hidden inside an old camera. However, this story is not finished just yet! You see, Oers still had to return the camera to Marion Jurrjens, and to do so, he came up with an excellent idea…
The Importance of Photography
In September of that year, Oers traveled to Canada and returned the camera to Marion. When she received the camera back, she felt overjoyed at all the memories she had returned. After all, photos are not merely for snapping pretty landscapes or animal moments. They can capture some of our most important memories of all time. When Marion received her camera and photos back, all those memories came flooding back!
After returning the photos, Oers felt like and hero. And he is! Now, Marion has her photos, and more importantly, her memories, back. Believe it or not, losing cameras or pictures is not that uncommon of an occurrence, no matter how important they are to us…
The Least Likely of Places
As you’ve just discovered, losing something incredibly meaningful and essential, like a camera or photo album, can feel devastating. Most of the time, there’s no other option than to move on. However, once in a blue moon, a long lost item makes its way home under the strangest of circumstances. Like with the Oers and the antique camera! However, he’s not the only one to find a long-lost camera.
When conducting scientific research, divers from a university in Canada discovered a camera on the seafloor. From the looks of it, it had been there for years, if not decades. While it was strange enough to find a camera on the bottom, the divers never thought it would work. But, believe it or not, it did! And they could not believe the photos they found…
A Sea Expedition
One morning in 2014, a diving team from the Marine Ecology Department at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, prepared to head out on a diving expedition in the Pacific’s deep cold waters. You see, the team wanted to conduct a research dive to study the waters off the coast of Bamfield, near Vancouver Island.
Initially, the dive team had planned to simply take some notes on oceanic wildlife. However, their goals that day quickly changed. As the team headed out on a boat to the deep blue sea, they had no idea what the depths of the ocean had in store for them…
The Diving Team
Specifically, the diving team headed into the cold waters to study the many variations of sea stars that call the area home. By taking a large group out there, the divers hoped to shed light on their interesting behavior and numbers. Not only that, but some of the divers also planned to capture a few sea stars to study them back in the school labs.
However, once down on the seafloor, something embedded in the sea bed caught the eye of one diver. At first, he had no idea what the item could be. So, the diver and his partner swam closer, determined to figure it out. Upon closer inspection, the two students managed to determine precisely what the strange object was…
The Discovery
Beau Doherty, left, and Tella Osler, right, were the Simon Fraser University students who noticed something strange on the seafloor. While Doherty saw it first, the second he pointed it out, Olser agreed the square object did not belong. Determined to remove any trash from the beautiful ocean, the two swam over and tried to remove the object.
Closer, they noticed the object had hard edges and a leather strap that waved in the current. As Doherty pulled the belt, he felt surprised to see a round lense emerge from the sand. Despite the algae and literal sea life living on the object, the diver recognized it as a camera!
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