My grandparents have finally decided to move out of their beautiful house in Sharon, Mass, into a more comfortable retirement home. Last winter, my family and I began digging through the treasures that have long been stored in that old house.
As a child, my grandparents’ home was a magical place. There was a “secret garden” in the back, compete with tall hedges and a wander turtle. I was given a skeleton key, which I pretended opened the garden all for myself. And through that door hours of imagined quests and lost loves were found.
This key, along with other treasures have found their way into my possession. One of my favorite finds was a group of old cameras; everything from the early Polaroids, Instamatics, and brownie reflexes. The oldest, a brownie reflex synchro, was my grandma’s camera in college (think 1940s). It takes 127 film, 4×4 negatives, and a lot of love. I managed to find color and black&white rolls on B&H, and developed/printed at Precision Camera. It was a bit pricey, but it was a salute to the past I could not pass up.
The prints turned clearer than I had expected. In fact, if I saw these out of context, I don’t think I would know what they were taken on. I can’t wait to take my next roll!