Man Finds 60-Year-Old Camera at Flea Market; Its Film Is a Time Capsule

In the summer of 2019, a trip to a flea market in France became a manhunt for a family that visited the area in the mid-1980s. Mathieu Stern bought an old camera—the Lubitel-2, a Soviet Russian camera designed for novice photographers, with two million units produced between 1954 and 1977. When Mathieu decided to use the flea market camera, he discovered an exposed film roll still inside, sparking the beginning of his adventure.

The 120 film roll had the potential to hold 12 images. It took a master photo lab to develop the old film roll, and they managed to salvage some of the photos. Nation Photo in Paris developed the film but could only recover five images. Mathieu’s mission became to unravel the mystery of his flea market camera, with the ultimate goal of finding the family depicted in the pictures. He needed to scrutinize the photos for clues.

Mathieu’s first task was to determine the location of the images. Using clues from two photos, he concluded the pictures were taken in Paris, France. Next, he needed to approximate the age of the photos. By analyzing additional details within the photos, he estimated them to be from around 1986. Consequently, the children in the images would now be in their 40s or 50s.

The family captured in the photos might have been residents of Paris or tourists from anywhere in the world. Given that realization, it won’t be easy to find this family without the power of social media. Mathieu Stern’s Instagram page showcases additional exciting photography projects. As of now, he has yet to locate the family. If you would like to help Mathieu find this family, sharing this story on social media could give it a broader reach.

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.