Old cameras

Flea market* season has begun. I'm in big trouble.

I went to a big rommelmarkt in Flanders today. If you're a collector of Bakelite telephones, old coins, stamps, postcards, antique porcelain, vintage jewellry, antique clocks or war memorabilia, you would have been in heaven.

An elderly gentleman was selling these old cameras. He told me that most of them were his while others belonged to old friends who had died and left him their cameras. They were all clean and in good working order. "No one seems to have the time or the patience to use these old cameras any more," he lamented. "Everything is digital today. I liked photography better when it was slow."

I didn't buy any cameras (can't afford film processing) but I did treat myself to a dear little Le Creuset pot for 50 cents. Big spender, moi.

Bigger.


* In Belgium, a flea market is called a brocante if it takes place in the French-speaking part of the country and rommelmarkt if it's in the Flemish-speaking part. They are usually organised out in the open. Streets are closed off and people set out their goods on the street or in public squares. Sometimes they take place inside community centres or sports halls - not a bad idea as it often rains here. Rarely do we have car boot sales the way they have them in the UK, or garage sales like those in the US.