Are you up for a Challenge?

Since I started the found film site a year or so ago, I’ve discovered a new interest as I’ve scanned and processed the old images which I post every day. What I’ve found is a real interest in trying to discover the location of the picture, trying to identify different objects in the picture and trying to guess the date the picture was taken.

Sometimes these questions are easy to answer – there may be a car with a number plate that’s easy to date or a shop sign which allows you to find the same shop today and therefore get the location, but sometimes there aren’t many clues and it can be quite difficult. But even when it’s difficult, it can still be quite fun, and I’ve often found myself zooming in on a picture to try to make out some writing or to see what someone is holding in their hand.

While I was doing this a while ago it occurred to me that other people might like to try the same thing and so today I’m introducing a new part of the found film site called ‘Challenges’. You will see there is a new menu entry called Challenges which will show you a list of photos which are set as challenges. Each of these pictures is scanned with a higher resolution than normal, and have a zoom function added – if you hold your cursor over the picture you will see a zoomed image.

The idea is to try to find clues in the picture which will lead you to the location the photographer was standing when they took the picture. If you can name any of the objects or hazard a guess at the date the picture was taken, so much the better – just fill in the comments section at the bottom of the page with any information you want to offer. If you have the location, include a google maps link with the comment so that I can check.

The whole point of the challenge section is to provide some fun for viewers, but if it proves popular I may include an honour board every month with a list of the people who have won most challenges.

So – are you up for a challenge?

The current list of challenges is here