Film
THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF D. PALMER Angie Porter
T
ucked away at the far end of town is D. Palmer, an Aladdin’s cave for film enthusiasts. Doug’s shop is packed to the rafters with ephemera from popular culture and photography. You might find local Theatre Programmes from the 20s, a 1950s collection of film magazines, turn of the century postcards of local landmarks or some 1970s Kodak brochures. Sifting through Doug’s extraordinary collection of vintage photographs is one of my favourite ways to while away a Saturday afternoon...and looking is free! Every two minutes, humans take more photos than existed on the planet 150 years ago. Today most photos are taken on people’s phones with little consideration of storage or the print process. The once treasured vintage 22 | Bridport Times | March 2018
photographs in Doug’s shop have never been “shared”, “liked” or “tagged”. Looking at these photographs you can see the careful consideration of composition and subject matter. This in contrast to most of the photos we scroll through everyday online makes for interesting study. The whole process of taking photographs from the early 20th Century was painstaking and technically challenging. Doug’s huge collection of vintage photographs demonstrates the value they once held as an important record. Many of the photographs arrive in the shop bound in original presentation folders bearing photographers’ logos. Albums are lovingly ordered. Special photographs are framed in glass or printed on a postcard. These objects would have been very expensive in their day.