Film Spools

Two 35mm film spools

Monday 27th July 2015

I had gone to look for something in our garage and was standing on steps looking on the top shelf when I saw my old Paterson darkroom developing tank. I opened it up, forgetting that there were two 35mm film spools inside. Now I was back down memory lane. The last time I loaded these with film was about twelve years ago. I found myself twisting the reels as if I was loading film onto them, remembering how it was all done in the dark by touch. Do I miss it? Yes and no. I miss the anticipation of chemically producing a negative from a latent image. I do not miss the time taken to produce the negative and then process the negative to come up with a print that may need further development. I certainly do not miss the smell of chemicals. Photographing the reels, I last saw about twelve years ago, cried out for a vintage look. I still will not throw them away!