Film Negatives: The Photos You Cannot See “During a deep clean, I found hundreds of envelopes stuffed with negatives I hadn’t seen since they were first developed. I kept holding them up to the light, as if I had X-ray vision. Spoiler: I don’t. After seeing your CBS Evening News story, I knew I had to do this. I’m so glad I did. We recovered vacations, birthdays, and photos of my grandparents I thought were gone forever.” — Melissa, San Diego
Your Old Film Is Hiding Your Best Photos
Those weird little brown strips in the envelope? The skinny, almost see-through film with tiny upside-down orange pictures you can barely make out.
They are not blank. They are 35mm film negatives. The original source of your photos. Every snapshot is still there, just reversed and hidden inside the film.
You can hold them. You can squint at them. You can lift them to the light like you are solving a mystery.
Still cannot see a thing. That is because the real image only appears when it is properly scanned. Once digitized, the photos show up clearly again. The vacations. The awkward school portraits. The people you forgot you photographed. | 
