Saga of Rare Beatles Photos, Candlestick Park 1966

March 15, 2018 10:07 AM

A contact sheet of 70 rare photos, found at a garage sale, led a man on an odyssey. The photographer was unknown. There was a Zodiac Killer connection. The quality of the photos was high. How to get started finding the source?
posted by MovableBookLady (11 comments total)

What format is that film? Vertical frames and horizontal sprocket-holes? Weird.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:22 AM on March 15, 2018

(To answer my own question: Plain old 135 through a half-frame camera, which apparently was a thing in the sixties.)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:28 AM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thanks - I love stuff like this.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:01 AM on March 15, 2018

My mind is BLOWN. I've always wondered about the guy from the Dylan press conference because his question is so specific and so odd; I've never been sure if the question has some context that I don't understand (what is an "equivalent photograph?") or if he's not really making sense. This story had some great twists and turns but that part was the first time in a very long time that a twist left me completely dumbfounded.
posted by Banky_Edwards at 11:16 AM on March 15, 2018 [7 favorites]

Like for Banky_Edwards the guy in the Dylan press conference in Don’t Look Back has stuck with me. I was just thinking about him last week. It’s really interesting to have a more information about him, even though the story is sad. Hopefully this will lead to a retrospective of his work, or even a book of photographs.
posted by Kattullus at 11:24 AM on March 15, 2018

I wonder if, in that Dylan press conference question, Weill is referring to Stieglitz's Equivalent photo series.
posted by newmoistness at 1:22 PM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

According to the article, the camera was an Olympus Pen-F, a professional-level SLR which takes 72 half-frame vertical photos.
posted by MovableBookLady at 1:43 PM on March 15, 2018

The article suggests that Eric Weill was "Sam," the man who called Melvin Belli on live TV, claiming to be the Zodiac Killer. Here's original footage, and here's the movie version.
posted by jonp72 at 2:54 PM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]

I read this yesterday, and it's stuck with me because of how many different strands it pulls together. It's a short, apparently straightforward narrative, but it successfully knits questions of fame, money, crime, creativity, insanity, obsession, culture and determination, in many cases more than one of each. It has resolutions and leaves open questions.

Which is quite something. In the right hands, this would be a hell of a movie.

And it's not the least delicious thing that this is an article in a collectors' magazine. Metafilter, you spoil me.
posted by Devonian at 2:44 AM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

There's nothing specific I collect (except maybe weird stories) but Collector's Weekly is consistently quality and interesting. Surprisingly good on LGBT and other non-mainstream stories.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 7:48 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yay, MeFi covered my cousin! Dave was wondering about these photos for the longest time, and I am so glad we finally know who the photog was.
posted by gusandrews at 6:33 PM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]