Film

Last time I went to the cinema at 10 o'clock in the morning was with a bunch of my ten-year-old peers anxious to catch up on the perils of Flash Gordon and the evil Emperor Ming. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I was invited to a special screening of a 1928 silent film inside the impressive art deco vastness of the Odeon Leicester Square. We were no longer short-trousered hoodlums with chewed gum and catapults in our pockets. We had all aged gracefully (or otherwise) and there was a whiff of geekiness that didn't exist back in the days of Flash and Princess Aura. This was the film buff's equivalent of a steam train outing to Carlisle. Such things I find fascinating and I donned my very best anorak for the occasion.

What happens when you see a good shot but have forgotten to carry a camera. These days the smartphone comes to the rescue. But it is such a part of everyday life that we often forget that it‘s there and that is can produce some remarkable results.

Film is enjoying new-found popularity, perhaps as an antidote to digital excess. But you don't need to shell out £500 on a Leica M3. Why not buy a solid and very capable Pentax or Olympus? The camera and lens could cost less than processing your first roll of film. And these old SLRs carry a lot of street cred....

Back in 1974 Don was sent to Brooklands to photograph the famous designer Barnes Wallis. It led to an invitation to an exclusive reunion of pre-war car racing drivers on the circuit the same weekend.....