A Georgia photographer reunited a family with their lost photos from a thrift store disposable camera.
Student Aila Cason found the old Kodak camera in Atlanta. However, she realized that the previous owner had already filled it with images.
“I could tell that all of the photos had already been taken,” she told PetaPixel. “The expiration date was 2008 and Kodak disposables usually have a two-year life, so I knew the photos were likely taken in 2006.”
Out of curiosity, the photographer decided to purchase the camera and develop the snapshots inside.
“I recently taught myself to develop and scan film at home so I thought it was the perfect time to get the disposable camera developed,” Aila said, adding, “I thought that might be some precious memories in the camera so that’s what inspired me to develop it.”
When Aila developed the pictures, she discovered that they were all photos from a family event. Based on the cake, she guessed it was a 21st birthday party. Wanting to find the camera’s owners, she posted a video to TikTok, where she’s known as @fairyonfilm. In her caption, she wrote, “I really hope someone who sees this recognizes the people in these photos.”
Aila’s idea worked out even better than she’d imagined. Aside from receiving over 900K views and over 4,000 comments, the video helped her get in touch with the family who took the pictures.
“I was hoping the Tiktok video I made would reach enough people to find the owners, but I never expected it to go so viral!” she said. “I was so happy that I was able to reach the family in the pictures and send them the photos.”
Then, she said, “One of the family members I got in contact with informed me that one of the men in the photos was her brother, who had recently passed. She said that seeing those photos meant a lot to her and her family.”
Watch the video below to see the family members from the original photos and what they look like now. Don’t forget to share!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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