Photography: New York City on 35mm film from 2016

I pined after my grandpa’s 35mm Canon AE-1 for most of my childhood and into my adult life.

I’ve loved taking photos as far back as I can remember. I had my own cameras when I was a kid—when 110mm film was still normal. And when I didn’t have my own camera, my grandparents, for who knows what insane reasons, allowed me to blow through rolls of film on their cameras. And would develop them all for me!!!

I imagine my 8-year-old self waiting for my great-grandma, Eula, to tell me the rolls of film had been developed, then pulling them out of their paper envelopes and flipping through all of the 4x6 doubles. It was like getting my hands on a jar of Flinstone vitamins unsupervised—like candy/a drug/a rush.

After something like two decades—even as he upgraded through multiple DSLRs—of trying to convince my grandpa, Guy, to give me the damn 35mm camera, even offering to pay money for it, I see it in a garage sale pile. I was aghast. After years of begging for that camera and being denied, it was just suddenly in a GARAGE SALE PILE?!?!?!!?

And that’s when it became mine. Grandpa wasn’t even sure if it worked anymore. Like I cared, though. It was my grandpa’s camera. Even if it was effectively a paperweight, I wanted the damn thing.

Plus, it’s one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

But anyway, all this is to say:

Here are some photos I took on that camera, that I never really learned how to use and wasn’t even sure still worked, in New York City in 2016.