This week’s roll of “found film” came to me from near Binghamton, New York, where the Ansco company was located from the mid-1800s to around 1980. The spool was covered in rust, and the backing paper was stuck to the film so badly that I was unable to remove large strips of paper. So I loaded it on the spool and let it soak in water for a bit, then was able to remove most of the bits of paper and fibers that were stuck to it so I could develop it.
The only real clue to the age of this film – other than its size (116) – was the expiration date printed right on the box – June 1958! So we can guess these photos were shot in the mid-1950s. 116 size film is 70mm wide, and a roll like this would provide eight 2½×4¼ exposures. These are tricky to scan because of their size, but with a bit of patience and some Photoshop enhancement to bring out some of the amazing detail on these large negatives, I think these 60-year-old photos, never seen by the photographer, turned out pretty well! Most of the white areas are from fibers that I was unable to remove.
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