Fishing on the wharf at Newcastle. Photo by Russ Hughes.
Fishing for old photos, and the ones that get away
Sometimes I think collecting old photographic images is a little like fishing. There’s a lot of waiting and hoping, a lot of lines cast to no avail, a lot of hauling in tiddlers of minor interest and, very occasionally, the excitement of landing something really extraordinary. There are also the ones that get away. Like the time I was sitting in a person’s lounge room, perusing some nice old postcards they were selling, when I noticed a plastic container full of old photographic negatives on a chair opposite. Seeing me look in that direction the person…