Film Photographer Recreates 100 Year Old Soccer Team Photo on Antique Camera
Miles Myerscough-Harris of Expired Film Club was recently invited to recreate a 100-year-old soccer team photo. His camera of choice? An 1897 No. 4 Cartridge Kodak.
This year, soccer team AIK Fotboll marks 100 years since it joined Sweden’s premier soccer league, Allsvenskan. To make the centenary, the team is playing in an exact replica of the elegantly simplistic 1924 jersey.
Miles was just one shooter in a throng of photographers ahead of a game as the players lined up for team photos. However, to get them all in the frame, Miles and his No. 4 Kodak had to be 40 feet away so at his behest, all the photographers graciously stood a little further away than usual.
While the other photographers had Canons, Nikons, and Sonys; Miles was shooting on his 125-year-old camera (although he also brought along a modern camera).
“They looked at it and they’re like, my God, what are you doing with that? It was really funny,” Miles tells ESPN.
“But everyone was very supportive, actually. It was really nice. All the other photographers sort of stood there and thought it was really cool.”
In Miles’ viral Instagram post from his shoot, he walks off the field after just taking the photo and says to the camera “I think I got it. I hope I got it.”
And indeed he did. Using the No. 4 Cartridge Kodak that takes 4×5-inch exposures on 104 roll film, Miles captured the shot on his camera that extends out of a leather case.
Shooting a football match on a 127 year-old camera ⚽️📸 pic.twitter.com/7F8LfO55dD
— Miles | Expired Film Club (@expiredfilmclub) February 25, 2024
The No. 4 Kodak has a tiny viewfinder from which Miles had to compose his shot. As he adjusts the lens, a small metal arrow points to the focus distance.
It was Miles’ wife, Catherine, who found the relic at an antique store in England which was being used as a prop for theater productions.
“This one, [I] picked it up off the shelf and I could just tell it was in beautiful condition and everything worked perfectly. So I was like, I mean, I’ve gotta get it,” he tells ESPN.
Miles, who became an online sensation for his use of antique cameras and expired film, has been shooting sport a lot recently and told PetaPixel in September that “most of the other photographers think I’m mental to even try to use film cameras at a sports event nowadays, but I love the challenge and the results.”
“And walking around with a film camera is a surefire way to get members of the crowd coming up to ask questions, but I really like it,” the photographer adds.
More of Miles’ work can be seen on TikTok, Instagram, and the Expired Film Club Website.
Image credits: Miles Myerscough-Harris/Expired Film Club.
