Obsession
Martijn van Oers, a Netherlands native and photographer, was infatuated with photography from a young age. He was particularly drawn to old photographs – especially when they had an eerie or sinister undercurrent.
He has been obsessed with photography ever since he received a camera for his 12th birthday. To this day, he is an avid photographer, and he especially loves taking pictures of abandoned, dark, scary places.
Drawn In
On one fateful morning in 2017, Martijn was walking through town when he found his feet taking him toward the doors of a thrift store close by. Not one to pass up an opportunity to find vintage photographs, but running short on time, he promised himself he’d just have a quick look inside.
After scanning the shelves but not seeing anything interesting, he was about to turn to leave when something caught his eye.
An Antique Camera
There, on the lowest shelf, was a vintage camera. But it wasn’t just any camera – it was a Zeiss Ikon 520/2. And when he took a closer look, he was surprised to see that it was in amazing condition.
In fact, it didn’t look like it had been used at all! He knew right then and there that he had to have it. It would be the perfect gift for his wife, he thought happily. But Martijn had no idea what he was really taking home that day.
Something Inside
Excited by his new toy, Martijn began to inspect the old camera’s inner workings. But when he opened it up, there was something inside. “I wanted to see if the camera still worked if everything opened and if the wheels were still turning."
"To my great surprise, there was a roll…” But what Martijn didn't realize was that his life was about to change forever.
The Images
After long hours of hard work trying to develop the pictures, he finally succeeded. There were four images in total. Although blurry, they were able to make out what the photographer had captured all those years ago.
There was a woman staring back at them, like a ghost from the past. She was standing beside a cement pathway running along a mountainside.
A Mystery
The subsequent photographs were similar to the first, with the same woman standing eerily in the foreground. But who was this woman? And what was the story behind these decades-old photographs?
The fourth photograph had an elderly man as its subject. He had the camera’s carry case slung over his shoulder. The men concluded that he must have been the one who had taken the photographs.
Help From Facebook
That’s when Martijn had a brilliant idea. He decided to post the old photographs on Facebook. Maybe someone could help him solve this mystery.
Shortly after, one of his friends reached out with an interesting photo of their own, and it helped to unravel the mystery a little further. But just how far was Martijn willing to go?
The Missing Link
A Dutch woman named Marion Jurrjens recognized the figures in the photographs immediately. The people in the photos were her grandparents. And the person who had owned the camera had been a man named Theo Lammers.
Martijn sent the photos to the woman, who was more than happy to have new pictures of her beloved grandparents. This crazy story luckily had a happy ending. This is not the first case of unseen photographs being found in old cameras, however. Here are more historical photos found in cameras.
Fire Escape Collapse
Stanley Forman was a photographer who worked for the Boston Herald American and was asked to cover the fire of a Marlborough Street building. It seemed to be a common rescue for firefighters until the fire escape cracked.
Suddenly, a woman and her daughter were falling from a fifth-floor fire escape and hitting the ground. The woman didn’t make it, but the child survived. Forman captured the moment both of them were flying in the air.
Mushroom Cloud Over Nagasaki
Although people often only remember the first atomic bomb attack on Japan by U.S. forces, it is important to note that there were two attacks, which were equally devastating.
Just three days after the obliteration of Hiroshima, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. This photo shows the explosion cloud caused by the bomb, which shot up a 45,000-foot-high column of radioactive debris and dust. 74,000 people were killed.
The Picture Hitler Wanted To Hide
Hitler was known as an excellent public speaker that was able to convince large masses of people of his insane ideas because of how powerful he sounded. To achieve this, he practiced his gestures a lot.
His personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffman, captured one of his rehearsals in this picture, which caused Hitler great embarrassment. He made sure this silly picture never saw the light of day, but after his death, it was finally discovered.
The First Lady
Back in the 1970s, everyone was obsessed with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Her “private life” wasn’t private at all, as paparazzi would always stalk her. One of the obsessed photographers was Ron Galella.
Galella was blinded by Jackie’s perfection, to the point where he once got in a taxi to follow the First Lady. Eventually, he got the perfect shot: a picture of Jackie looking over her shoulder right to the camera, with her hair blown by the wind.
A Rebellious Woman
This amazing photo shows a young woman on the street aiming a gun. She was a volunteer of the Irish Republican Army in 1972, and her identity is unknown.
This picture is particularly interesting because only men were allowed to fight during The Troubles, a bloody civil war in Northern Ireland.
Black Power Protest
Tommie Smith and John Carlos were two African Americans who left a powerful message at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. When they took the medal stand, the athletes bowed their heads and raised their fists.
John Dominis captured the moment the message was given. Take a close look at the picture. Smith is not wearing any shoes as a sign of black poverty. The picture quickly became a symbol in the 60s.
Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter
There was a time when homosexuality was banned or even considered a crime. Robert Mapplethorpe dedicated ten years of his career photographing the situation of gays between 1970 and 1980.
Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter are standing in a normal living room, both dressed up in leather, one of them using chains and the other one holding them. Mapplethorpe was the first photographer to introduce the world of gays and sexuality.
Look At What You've Done
Once World War II ended, the Allies thought it would be a good idea to show Nazi prisoners of war what they had done.
They made all of them watch films about concentration camps and the horrors that they put people through, not only to spite them but also to make them feel remorse. This helped many of them accept the horror of their ways.
Untitled Film Still #21
Cindy Sherman was an artist both in front and behind the camera. She is a photographer and filmmaker who became well-known by the end of the 70s for portraying herself.
Untitled Film Still is her most famous work, which includes more than seventy black and white photographs that became of great value to the artistic community.
Dalí Atomicus
Philippe Halsman’s work as a photographer consisted of capturing the essence of those he photographed. So when he had the opportunity to work with surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, he knew he had to make the picture look like one of his paintings.
There was no such thing as Photoshop in 1948, so this was all done in real life. The chair and easel were suspended by wires, and, on Halsman’s count, three cats and a bucket of water were thrown into the air as Dalí jumped.
Abraham Lincoln & His Son
Abraham Lincoln had four sons, but it is believed that his favorite one was the youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln III.
The little guy was allowed to run around the White House and would often interrupt his father's meetings. When Lincoln was assassinated, Tad took it the hardest.
Last Picture Of A Samurai
The Samurai were legendary warriors from Japan that were active until 1870. They were abolished by the Japanese government in order to create a military force that every citizen could join.
This picture shows a Samurai posing one last time in front of a camera with his bow before his group was eliminated.
Alfred Hitchcock & The MGM Lion
Alfred Hitchcock was known for his eccentricity, but people didn't expect to ever see him serving tea to a lion. This amazing picture was taken in 1957 and was a PR strategy for production company MGM.
As you know, MGM is best known for having a roaring lion as its logo. The lion in this picture was the actual MGM lion, Leo, who you can still see at the beginning of MGM movies.
From Actress To Princess
The most famous actress-turned-princess was definitely the lovely Grace Kelly, but she wasn't the only one who took that path in life. Actress Jocelyn Lane also married a prince.
She traded her blossoming career in show business to marry Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a Spanish prince, in 1971. Sadly, it didn't work out and they divorced in 1985. She later admitted she regretted quitting her career.
The Babe Bows Out
Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player in history. By 1948, he had already spent a decade out of the game and was fighting terminal cancer.
So, when he stood in front of a huge crowd on June 13, 1948, people knew this was his final public goodbye. This bittersweet moment was immortalized in this picture.
Country Doctor
Country Doctor was a photo essay by W. Eugene Smith, a photographer who loved to follow and capture people’s lives. In this piece of work, he followed Dr. Ernest Ceriani for 23 days as he worked as a country doctor in Colorado in 1948.
He was with Ceriani while he developed his own x-rays, treated a man with a heart attack, and called a priest to give last rites. This intimate glimpse of this doctor’s life became one of the most influential photo essays in history.
Che Guevara
The most famous picture of Che Guevara, Guerillero Heroico, was taken one day after the bombing of a Havana Harbor ship. The entire crew died in the explosion, so a funeral was organized by Guevara and his followers the following day.
Alberto Koda was responsible for covering the event where Guevara delivered a speech in which he held the U.S. accountable for the bombing. The photograph became a symbol of the revolution only after Guevara’s death.
The Pillow Fight
Harry Benson was probably the only human being in 1964 who wasn’t interested in The Beatles. The photographer considered himself to be a serious journalist, so he first refused to photograph the famous rock band.
Of course, he regretted it the second he met the Fab Four. His work, The Pillow Fight, was taken on the same day I Want to Hold Your Hand hit No. 1 in the U.S. Benson was fortunate to photograph the band on several occasions after being famous for his first work.
V-J Day in Times Square
You’ve probably seen this picture a million times. This photo showed people celebrating the end of WWII on the streets of New York, with a young couple kissing.
Although the picture became somewhat of a romance icon, the man and woman didn’t know each other. The sailor grabbed hold of a random woman and forced her into a kiss she did not want to partake in.
Gandhi and the Spinning Wheel
Mohandas Gandhi was held prisoner by the British at Yeravda prison in Pune, India, from 1932 to 1933. During this time, Gandhi had a spinning wheel at his disposal. With it, he made his own thread and inspired Indians to do the same.
Gandhi’s followers started to also use a spinning wheel to make their own clothes instead of buying British goods as a sign of protest in their fight for independence. This helped solidify Gandhi as a man of peace who never used violence to make a stand.
Nuit de Noël (Happy Club)
The work of Malick Sidibè illustrates the transition of Mali from a colony into a federation. The Malian photographer, aka Eye of Bamako, was capable of capturing the nation’s transition towards independence.
The photo of a couple hitting the dance floor represents free will, as young men were not allowed to be near young women, let alone touch them. Malick firmly believed music unchained Malians.
Dovima With Elephants
Dovima was an American model during the 1950s. In 1955, she was already one of the most famous models in the country, so it made sense for her to work with Richard Avedon, one of the most famous fashion photographers at the time.
The two then created a photo that was as famous as they were. It depicted Dovima posing gracefully with two elephants while wearing Dior.
Case Study House No. 22
The work of Julius Shulman had an impact on the way Californian society appreciated architecture. Back in 1960, Shulman photographed a house owned by an architect in Hollywood Hills.
This dream home was part of the 36 Case Study Houses, the famous experiments in residential architecture. The Case Study House No. 22 took everyone’s breath away. The picture portrays modern architecture combined with a luxurious Californian way of life.