I sold an old camera on eBay at the weekend, to a guy from China. This phased me at first, when bidding had stopped and the necessity of despatch began. Why does someone from China want to buy an old TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) from someone in England? Is that the beauty of eBay, that a camera bought by my Grandfather in 1965 for £35 can be sold for not much more and end up on the other side of the world? It probably came from Japan in the first place. Thus it completes a circular journey; creation to death, or maybe he will just sell it for more money to an American.
I hope he enjoys it, uses it, thinks of my Grandfather as he presses the shutter, rewinds (manually – what do you expect for £38.50!) the 35mm film on the shaky spindle, removes the film and gets the prints developed. I will probably have spent the money by then, so above all that, I hope the bloody things come out.
