A Roll of Film, a Journey Through Time
Some time ago, my friend Vincenzo and I stumbled upon a tiny vintage electronics store in the heart of Naples. Among the dusty shelves, we discovered three Kodak film rolls, each with an expiration date that seemed like a small cosmic coincidence. One had expired in 1971, while the other two bore dates from March and May of 1988—the very months and year of our births. Aries for one, Gemini for the other.
We bought them with the shared understanding of two things: that we would eventually shoot them and that doing so would be a gamble. One of those rolls, the one expired in March 1988, felt especially significant to me. I couldn’t help but imagine the life it had led before ending up on that shelf, forgotten but intact.
Its journey began the same month I entered this world, and every tiny twist of fate brought it closer to that moment when I would find it—standing in front of that shop window, feeling an irresistible urge to bring it home.
My friend Annaclairette portrayed on a 36 years old Kodak Ektachrome
The Unexpected Journey of a Vintage Film Roll from 1988
That film roll was more than just an object; it was a mystery. Who originally owned it? Why had it never been used? What paths had it traveled—through cities, homes, or perhaps just a single, dusty corner of the world—before arriving in that shop, still nestled in its cardboard box?
In the end, shooting it didn’t yield much: just a handful of faint, blue-toned images, remnants of what could have been. Perhaps I should have followed my friend's advice and left it on a shelf as a keepsake. But I couldn’t. I felt compelled to give it one last chance to fulfill its purpose, to honor its long journey by letting it capture light once more.
Even though the results were imperfect, the act of shooting that roll felt meaningful. It reminded me of the quiet beauty in forgotten things, in objects that wait patiently for their moment to be rediscovered. In some small way, that roll of film and I are linked—our journeys beginning in the same month of the same year, brought together by curiosity and an unspoken connection to the passage of time.
