You never know what you’ll find when you buy something that's vintage. When photographer Alex Galmeanu bought a rare 50-year-old camera off eBay, he never expected to find an exposed (but undeveloped) roll of film inside. “Of course I had it developed right away,” he wrote, “and, as a surprise again, I was able to recover 10 quite usable images, especially when considering their age.”
The photos depict a small rural wedding that took place sometime during the 1970s. They feature celebratory newlyweds and parents dressed in suits. It looks like a happy occasion with smiles all around. In addition to the people, there were also visible license plates on cars; this gave Galmeanu a place to start his sleuthing. He determined that one of the vehicles was first registered in Edinburgh, Scotland sometime between August 1973 and July 1974.
That discovery offered a big clue to who it could be. Unfortunately, the person who shipped the camera couldn’t be of much help, as they had never opened the device. So, Galmeanu took the next logical step in solving this mystery—he appealed to the internet. The story went viral in the UK media, and it’s the BBC that helped crack the case.
A man named Alastair Bremner contacted the BBC to say that his family is in those pictures. The portraits, he shared, are of his sister Kathleen’s wedding with guests on both the bride and groom's side. And the car? It was owned by Alastair and Kathleen’s father.
You might be wondering what became of the couple. Unfortunately, they are no longer married, with the groom eventually emigrating to Australia. One mystery still remains, however. Bremner is unsure of who took these photos.
Here's the camera that Galmeanu received, film and all:
The developed film revealed these curious pictures:
Alex Galmeanu: Website | Instagram
h/t: [Daily Mail]
