Photographer Makes Exciting Find in Undeveloped Film

Kati Dimoff discovers unseen shots of Mount St. Helens erupting
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2017 1:04 PM CDT
Photographer Makes Exciting Find in Undeveloped Film
An undeveloped roll of film found by photographer Kati Dimoff contained an exciting surprise: shots of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.   (Instagram)

Kati Dimoff, a photographer in Portland, Oregon, buys old cameras and develops the rolls of film she finds inside as a bit of a hobby, KATU reports. But one exciting recent find set off a local mystery: shots of Mount St. Helens' 1980 volcanic eruption. On Instagram, Dimoff says she found the disintegrating roll of film inside a camera for sale at Goodwill. She shared the developed prints with the Oregonian in hopes of finding out who took them.

When a friend shared the story with him on Facebook, Mel Purvis tells the Oregonian he "almost fell out of my chair." One of Dimoff's prints showed him posing with his wife, son, and grandmother 37 years ago. He believes the photos were taken with a camera belonging to his grandmother, who was visiting them in Eugene from her home in St. Helens. Purvis says his grandmother died in 1981, and he has no idea how her camera—and photos—ended up at a Goodwill in Portland. Dimoff got in touch with Purvis and is sending him the prints and camera. (More Mount St. Helens stories.)

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