The first shot of the roll.
This is ironically the only vertical image of the 17 shots of the field trip. Looks to have been made while sitting down and talking to his mom while having breakfast.
Image #2
Image #3
Image #4
Image #5
Image #6
This is the first of two images that demonstrate the camera being used had the ability to focus.
Image #7
This is the second image demonstrating the camera can focus. The camera is closer to subject and he is sharp. If the camera had a fixed focus lens, the boy by the window would be sharp and the boy in the foreground would be even more out of focus than he is in image #6.
Image #8
This is the first truly outdoor image. The exposure is pretty consistent from the frame shot inside to outside showing the photographer was changing the exposure for the different lighting conditions. Considering the heavy backlight in image #4 and image #6 and #7 my guess is the photographer was using a handheld incident light meter.
Buddhist Temple, from the sidewalk. The current location of image #8.
64 Mott Street, the first image with a recognizable location.
Quon Luck, 66, image #9
Quon Luck 66, the current location of image #9.
From where the photographer was standing for the previous image of the temple, they simply turned around to make this image.
Buddhist Temple, taken from across the street. Image #10
Buddhist Temple, the current location of image #10.
64 Mott Street, the photographer crossed the street to photograph the group walking in front of the Temple located at 65 Mott street.
Close up of the Buddhist Temple window. Image #11
Another example the camera used to shoot this roll of film had the ability to focus and was more than a simple point and shoot.
Buddhist Temple, window close up. The current location of image #11.
Third image of the temple on the roll.
The corner of Mott and Bayard streets about a block from the temple. Image #12
52 Mott at Bayard street.
Corner of Mott and Bayard by the now defunct Ye Limehouse restaurant. The current location of image #12.
52 Mott at Bayard street.
The first of two images made outside the Temple Garden. Image #13
This image was made from what I'm thinking is the edge of the curb.
Temple Garden at 16 Pell Street. Image #14
This is the second image made from outside the Temple Garden Restaurant.
This is the image that helped determine the approximate year these were made. The adult on the right has what looks to be a Polaroid 'Swinger' Model 20. This camera was produced between July 1965 and 1970, guaranteeing the images were made sometime after the summer of 1965.
The gentlemen just to his right appears to be loading a roll of film into a camera as well but not enough of the camera is visible to identify it.
Temple Garden, 16 Pell street. Current location of images #13 and #14.
The only image in Chinatown that was not made on Mott Street. This image was made a couple blocks off of Mott on Pell street. While the fire plug has been removed the pipe looking like an upside down J or a candy cane is still there today.
My guess is this was made inside the Temple Garden Restaurant and the last image made before returning to the school. Image #13
One of two images of this girl. Image #16
Perhaps the girl was a friend or a crush of the photographer. It could also be the photographer was trying to finish up the roll as these were the final two shots from the field trip.
Image #17
The last shot made.
The Film Can
The bulk loaded film can the film was in.
35mmc article about this mystery roll of film. Link to the article in the description.
Before returning to the photograph the current locations 35mmc ran an article about the find.
The Field Trip
Having been a commercial camera builder for over ten years, I'm regularly coming across old cameras, some working but mostly broken cameras that have been cast off and left for scrap. Some of these cameras get a new life serving as the backbone of a new custom wide camera.
When I come across a vintage camera with a roll of film in it, I'll wind it out the best I can and toss it in my doublewide milk crate that houses black and white chemistry where it may (someday) become used as a 'tank filler' when I have an available slot in a tank of film developer. While these random 'tank fillers' rarely yield images, let alone anything interesting, this random, bulk loaded roll of Kodak Plus-X turned out to be an absolute treasure trove of a story.
I've dubbed this roll 'The Field Trip' and it depicts a school field trip in the mid 1960's in only seventeen images. The story begins with a mother making breakfast. This is followed by several shots in the classroom and several more images being made on the bus before arriving at the groups destination, New York's Chinatown.
What looks like a middle school class walks the streets of Chinatown, past the Buddhist Temple on Mott Street before arriving at what looks to be their destination, a meal at the now defunct Temple Garden Restaurant.
Not terribly long ago, I found myself in New York and was able to make time to revisit the steps and locations the students took on a sunny fall day. Mixed in with the vintage images are color images, along with a phone image to determine the exact location where the student photographer made each image. While it is possible a teacher made the images, with the pictures of students, the location on the bus and even in the classroom seems to indicate it was a student behind the lens.
Several of the images have notes if you click the round ‘I’ in the top right of the screen. Enjoy the images, past and present, and please reach out if you have any insight to the identify of the class or any of the students.