T-Max to the Max

I haven’t been this excited about a roll of “found film” since the time I developed an old roll of 120 and figured out who the little girl was in the photos . (She’s now a grown woman). It’s hard for me to say exactly where I got this roll of film. I’m constantly coming across old, previously shot/exposed rolls. I sometimes find them still inside vintage cameras I buy, or in old camera bags, or I get them included in a lot of cameras I snag up at an auction. In fact, I have a box of “found film” just waiting for me to develop and scan them. When I’m in the mood to soup some film but don’t have a roll of my own ready to go, I dip into the box.

That’s what happened earlier this week. It had been raining heavily over the weekend and into the first part of the week. Much too wet and rainy to venture out to take photos of my own. So I grabbed two rolls of black and white from my mystery box. One of these rolls was a 24 exposure of T-Max 100. I developed both rolls in Diafine.

Both rolls turned out. I’ll share the results from the other roll in a separate post. At first blush, I wasn’t too excited about the negatives from the T-Max. I could tell that someone had taken a shit-ton of photos of a tree. **yawn** But then I scanned them. I was impressed by how good they looked, even without making any adjustments to exposure or contrast. The only touch-up work I did was removing dust spots and a few scratches that’s inevitable with any roll of film, much less a really old roll.

The frames were well composed. Artistic. The grain is delicious. Can film grain be delicious? I’m not sure, but that’s how I want to describe it. There are some portraits of two guys, both together and separate, that are just great! I have no proof of it, but my sense is that the bearded guy in the ball cap was the photographer (using a tripod and a timer).

Can film grain be delicious? I’m not sure, but that’s how I want to describe it.

And, of course, I have questions about these men. Were/are they brothers? Best friends? Were they on a photo excursion? Or out camping somewhere? Are they still around? How old are they now? What was/is their story?

In the past, I’ve posted photos from old film and crowd-sourced my followers to help determine when the photos were taken. This time, I enlisted the help of ChatGPT. I uploaded three photos of the men and asked, “Can you tell what year these photos were taken?”

The results:

These black-and-white photographs have a strong vintage aesthetic, and while we can’t date them with absolute certainty, here are some educated guesses based on visual clues:

Clues:

Clothing and Accessories:
- The patch cap, plaid flannel, and heavy workwear jackets suggest a style consistent with the 1970s to early 1980s.
- The glasses (particularly the wire-rimmed ones) were especially popular in the 1970s.
Image Quality and Film Look:
- The high contrast, grain, and tonality are consistent with black-and-white film photography of the mid-20th century, possibly shot on something like Tri-X 400 or a similar film stock.
- The vignetting and lighting feel natural and unmanipulated, supporting a vintage origin—or a modern photographer imitating one very convincingly.
Subjects and Setting:
- The natural landscape and rugged clothing suggest a road trip or outdoor setting, possibly linked to youth subcultures like hitchhiking, exploration, or counterculture, all popular themes in the 1970s.

Conclusion:

These photos look like they were taken in the mid-to-late 1970s, give or take a few years. However, it’s possible they were taken more recently with vintage clothing and film to intentionally mimic that era—especially if you’re behind the camera, Ken.