Found Films in China – What Happened When Old Films Were Discovered Among Urban Debris
In 2011, Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, underwent significant changes to its urban landscape. The city’s skyline was transforming rapidly, with new construction sites appearing daily and old neighborhoods being demolished at an unprecedented pace. A major infrastructure project, the city’s first underground metro line, was also under development. Amidst this backdrop of urban renewal, an unusual discovery provided a rare glimpse into the personal histories of the area.
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While walking near a small river in the northeast area of the city, I noticed that a street once used by cars to reach fishing facilities had been turned into a green area, and all the facilities were demolished. Walking around the ruins, I saw a 35mm film and took a picture of it, but after a while, I realized there were also many other negatives, including some 120mm. This was unexpected because, when walking randomly in China, I usually saw playing cards, toys, or shoes on the ground, but never negatives. Usually, I didn’t pick up things I found on the ground, but in this case, I thought, “If I don’t pick them up, of course, they will be destroyed since they have already been abandoned by their owners.” All the 120mm and 35mm films were in terrible condition, covered with dried mud and dust.
Some pictures were broken, scratched, or erased. I put everything in a plastic bag and brought it home. I washed the films with liquid soap and water, dried them gently with my fingers, and left them to dry unrolled. This method worked perfectly with the 120mm negatives, but for the 35mm ones, the emulsion on the negatives started to peel off. I managed to recover only a few photos, so I stopped because I was afraid of damaging the other 35mm pictures. As a result, I still have a plastic bag full of them. As you can see, the recovered 120mm pictures seemed to be taken in the 1970s or early 1980s, possibly during a honeymoon. One picture seemed even older, possibly from a school trip. The 35mm pictures I recovered were all portraits of a woman, clearly the same woman from the honeymoon in Beijing, but maybe 10 years later.
I quickly glanced through the other 35mm negatives and noticed that the bag seemed to contain an entire photographic record of their lives: I saw a little girl growing up. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to save these negatives without erasing the photos. It saddened me. When I see this plastic bag filled with negatives, I realize there is an entire family’s life inside. I hope to save this film and maybe one day return the recovered photos to their original owners. We live in the internet era, so anything is possible. Who knows!
Topics: abandoned places in China, hidden history
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