Encyclopedia Titanica

Titanic Photographic Paraphernalia

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In the second instalment of Titanic's Hidden Treasures, we look at several items of photographic equipment recovered from the debris field and even a sliver of nitrate film.

The only item that can be linked to a passenger is an envelope from a Salt Lake City Photographic company C.R. [Charles Roscoe] Savage & Co., which was found in luggage belonging to Howard Irwin.  Irwin himself was not aboard the Titanic but his friend and travelling companion Henry Sutehall was a third-class passenger, and for some reason was bringing Irwin's luggage with him.  In 1993 Irwin's trunk was recovered together with its contents.  See A Tragic Friendship for more about Howard and Henry.

Envelope
Photographic development tray recovered from the Titanic

The next items are a camera tripod, developing tray and assorted camera parts. They were found together wrapped in a blanket. Whose were they?  Any can you identify the make of camera?

Developing Tray
Photographic development tray recovered from the Titanic
Titanic Tripod
A photographer's tripod
Pamera Parts
Miscellaneous camera parts found in the Titanic debris field, make unknown.

This sliver of nitrate film was recovered during another dive and in a different location.  The film has markings which might indicate that the film was exposed and developed photographic negative but further imaging and analysis would need to be done to establish if any recognisable images have survived.

Titanic Nitrate Film
An unperforated strip of nitrate film recovered from the Titanic with some indistinct markings which may be traces of photographic negative.

Finally, three mystery objects thought to be from photographic equipment, but their exact purpose is unknown.  Can you help identify them?

Unidentifed camera part
An unidentified object, possibly a camera shutter release.
Unidentifed camera part
An unidentified object, possibly a camera film spool.
Unidentifed camera part
An unidentified object, thought to be part of a camera.
Unidentifed camera part
Location of the film and camera parts in the Titanic debris field.

Discuss these objects on our forum or in our Facebook group...

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Director of Collections Tomasina Ray and Jessica Sanders, President RMS Titanic inc.

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Comment and discuss

  1. S Brooke S Brooke
    Was this what was recovered from the last expedition?
  2. Mark VII Mark VII
    [HEADING=2][URL='https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-photographic-paraphernalia-804.html']Titanic Photographic Paraphernalia[/URL][/HEADING][ATTACH type="full" alt="rmst-photographic_T5.jpg"]115824[/ATTACH]Mysterious items of photographic equipment recovered from the Titanic's debris field include a sliver of nitrate film.Thank you Philip, for this fascinating thread! I combine my interest in Titanic with my passion for analog photography, and I have a collection of antique cameras that I use in practice. The work of Titanic passenger Francis Browne is the main inspiration for my interest in analog photography, and I have collected most popular cameras from between 1909 and April 1912.Based on this experience, I have a few questions and observations regarding the artefacts associated with photography that have been found.1. Could the dimensions of the items be provided? With the lack of dark room enlargers, in pre-war photography everything revolved around film format. A film spool can thus be identified by a size that corresponds to a popular film format in the 1910s. 2. Dimensions also help to identify other objects, such as the one currently associated with a shutter. I can say with near certainty that this is not the case unless the object is smaller than 1 centimeter. The object reminds me more of the locking levers of a pre-war tripod, but again, size matters.3. The nitrate film is fascinating for
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Encyclopedia Titanica (2024) Titanic Photographic Paraphernalia (Titanica!, ref: #804, published 24 July 2024, generated 1st December 2024 02:31:50 AM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-photographic-paraphernalia.html