A Fort Langley photographerB次元官网网址檚 visit to an antique store resulted in a familial discovery for a woman in another province, reuniting her with her ancestorsB次元官网网址� White Rock photographs.

An old roll and passion driving him forward

Jim Sollows, a retired healthcare worker and hobby-photographer visited an antique shop in Vancouver, where he was given an old roll of undeveloped film by the shopB次元官网网址檚 owner.

Due to the age and size of the film roll B次元官网网址� it was too large to fit in the developing tankB次元官网网址� Sollows had to unroll it to reveal the negatives in complete darkness.

Sollows may love a challenge, especially ones that involve ancient film, but this one was a hurdle he had to convince himself to get over.

B次元官网网址淚 was actually thinking to myself as IB次元官网网址檓 doing this, B次元官网网址業 might as well turn the lights on and throw it in the garbage because thereB次元官网网址檚 no way this is going to work.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

De-spiraling the reel was time-consuming, as the film kept jumping out of the chemical bath and B次元官网网址渢rying to coil up around my arm like an anaconda,B次元官网网址� Sollows said with a laugh.

Finally, the film co-operated long enough to visit the water bath. With the film no longer completely light-sensitive, Sollows was able to view the film for the first time under the red safe light.

B次元官网网址淚 held up the negative to the safe light and I saw these pictures there and I audibly gasped and thought, B次元官网网址業 canB次元官网网址檛 believe it.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

What he was looking at were three of six surviving photos of what appeared to be a family. The first three photos could not be salvaged, lost to UV light that was able to leak in over the years, but photos four to six were more protected and thus able to be recovered.

When it comes to B次元官网网址渙rphan film,B次元官网网址� as Sollows has coined it, it is nearly impossible to find the owners. Given that the film was over 90 years old and given to him by a non-owner, he had little hope that the family could be found.

There were no identifiable pieces in the photos either, making the task of solving the mystery even more difficult.

Regardless, Sollows enlisted the help of his friend Steve Bueckert and the two decided to give it a shot, reaching out to social-media users in the process.

Recognition found in next-door province

By coincidence, at the same time the mystery photos went online, Pamela Bonar in Edmonton, Alta. was digging into her family tree.

BonarB次元官网网址檚 search led her to B.C. B次元官网网址� her family having ties to White Rock and Vancouver B次元官网网址� when she discovered the photos Sollows had developed.

B次元官网网址淚 was really connecting with the eyes of the toddler and I kept going back to the photos and going, B次元官网网址榃hy do I recognize that face? That face looks familiar to me.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

The toddler in the photos was indeed familiar. She was Lorraine Provan Bonar, Pamela BonarB次元官网网址檚 paternal grandmother. Excited, she contacted Sollows via Facebook and continued to dig into her family history to pinpoint every person in the three photographs.

An extremely rare photo was also recovered by Sollows.

Johnny Selmar Carlsen, LorraineB次元官网网址檚 uncle who was photographed holding her (first photo), died at about 18 years old from diabetes, and until now, nobody in the Bonar family had ever seen a photograph of him.

CarlsenB次元官网网址檚 image provided another emotional moment for Bonar. She shared that LorraineB次元官网网址檚 uncle bore a great resemblance to BonarB次元官网网址檚 own father who the family lost not long ago to the same disease.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 another connection to the family historyB次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 like a mirror,B次元官网网址� Bonar said.

Seeing these decades-old photographs in person changed everything for Bonar, once she received the physical photos from Owen Law who printed and hand-delivered them to Bonar.

B次元官网网址淚t was like seeing my father holding my grandmother and since they had been estranged, it was, it really was emotional,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淭his made me feel like everythingB次元官网网址檚 OK, that thereB次元官网网址檚 some peace now, everybodyB次元官网网址檚 resting in peace now and thereB次元官网网址檚 that closure there for me.B次元官网网址�

Bonar and her family lived in White Rock for decades, her family even had a farm in the city and every photograph recovered by Sollows and Bueckert was taken around 1926.

The Final Piece

Even after receiving the message from Bonar, Sollows and BueckertB次元官网网址檚 minds were still stuck on the photograph of LorraineB次元官网网址檚 mother Pauline Hjerdis Carlsen Provan wearing a sweater bearing an image they presumed to be Flash Gordon. Because the 1936 science fiction hero did not debut until a decade after the photos were presumably captured, this one picture still puzzled the duo.

It was not until he received information from a sports reporter based in the U.S. they learned the figure on the sweater was actually an Olympic figure-skater from 1924.

B次元官网网址淭hat was the last piece of the puzzle, it all fit.B次元官网网址�

Sollows teaches film photography and accepts donations of cameras to restore and provide to students. To learn more, visit his website at sollows.ca.

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