Found Photos Friday: Midwestern Farmer's Daughter

A couple of months ago I picked up three rolls of color Triple Print film that expired in 1978. The seller, from rural Illinois, didn't know anything about them. I suspect they came from the estate sale of one of the people pictured, or maybe a garage sale.

This triple print stuff is a mess to develop and impossible to print onto black and white paper. The film's base is red -- it uses an old color process called C-22. The film's base, in fact, is the EXACT color of black and white darkroom lights, which is why it's impossible to actually print these images in a darkroom. And, because the base is so dark, the images' contrast suffered dramatically. In fact, the images became almost invisible on most rolls when dry. For some of these shots, I had to soak the film and let the water hold it on a white acrylic sheet. After pressing the bubbles out, I could take pictures of it (illuminated from behind) and get reasonable images. I don't ever -- ever -- want to deal with this film again.

But, some of these photos turned out well. I had forgotten the seller was from Illinois when I developed these and immediately the images looked like my home state, in southern-central near Urbana. And, yes, that was where the seller had bought them from.

This will be the best blog entry I do all year. Why? Because 1970s farmers' daughters are HOT.


The patterns along the top are where the paper had begin sticking to the film. 


Three dogs. THREE! That's a lot of shedding.


I dig the dude's hair, too. These are the most serious people I've ever seen. That said, Midwestern farmers are pretty serious people.


A windmill, very progressive for the mid 1970s. I like what this shot tells us about these peoples' lives. Off in the distance there's another house, so this was probably not a huge farm by today's standards. Also, the fence is in good repair, and possibly new. The young trees in the foreground may also be new plantings. So this could have been a new home for them. Also, the windmill and birdbath would be luxury items, so they may have had good luck farming (though agriculture in the 1970s wasn't a calling anyone answered because of the great money inolved.)


Is that maybe a fourth dog? More importantly, check out dude's pants and shirt. Is he from 1975 or is he a mid-twenty-teens hipster? NO ONE KNOWS!


Chickens.


This was the dog I counted as the third earlier, but a photo I didn't include today had YET ANOTHER dog in it.


These last two pictures I had to photograph when wet. But, they show rows of corn and spinach and perhaps rhubarb and cabbage. A nice variety.