The Camera Hunter's Find

Bellamy Hunt, the man behind Japan Camera Hunter (JCH) in Tokyo, is a sort of antique picker who ferrets out old cameras that have history or provenance, on behalf of a worldwide clientele. Recently he was offered a camera by the family of actor Errol Flynn's son Sean. The story is almost incredible in the vividness and significance of its every detail. Bellamy describes locating and re-homing Vietnam war photographer Sean Flynn's Leica camera as "a once-in-a-career event." Tough to argue with that.

A very short version is that Sean Flynn was kidnapped in Cambodia with photojournalist Dana Stone in 1970 and never seen again. "There were reports that both Flynn and Stone were kidnapped by the Vietcong and then handed to the Khmer Rouge before being executed, but remains were never found. Flynn’s mother spent her life and fortune trying to find a trace of her son, but sadly it was to no avail. Sean Flynn was declared legally dead in 1984," writes Hunt.

Photo: JCH

The camera is a Leica M2 with a steel-rim 35mm Summilux and "a strap that was hand fashioned from a parachute cord and a hand grenade pin" left in Flynn's Paris apartment.

It's a terrific story. You can read it in its entirety and see the eloquent illustrations at the JCH website. The camera will go to a new owner in Saigon.

A camera with history indeed.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

B&H Photo • Amazon US • Amazon UK
Amazon Germany • Amazon Canada • Adorama

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ken Tanaka: "It is indeed a good story that I, coincidentally, read last week. I knew of Sean Flynn and his disappearance but the story filled some holes in my knowledge. He was sort of a later-day Robert Capa.

"Memorabilia has always puzzled me. Being in the presence of so-and-so’s mitt from the 1938 World Series, the brushes used by so-and-so to paint a renowned 15th-century painting, the camera used by so-and-so to take his/her most renowned photos...can certainly give an admirer a tingle. But what real value are these artifacts beyond future resale to some other poor tingler at a profit? And what happens when time eventually extinguishes these tingles? Someone will be left with some very expensive junk!

"But the bigger question: what ephemera of today’s generation will be treated as a devotional artifacts in the future? I really can’t think of anything!"

Mike replies: I have that same sort of conceptual puzzlement about such objects. A number of years ago I owned Jack Lemmon's Leica M6 (along with a letter of provenance). I never could figure out what it should mean to me, and finally decided it meant nothing, really, so I sold it. (I should add that I'm not particularly a Jack Lemmon fan. Don't dislike him, but he means no more to me than any other good actor.) On the other hand, a friend has a 35mm camera that was decorated by his friend, Keith Haring. He continued to use the camera and eventually rubbed off all but the faintest traces of  of the Haring embellishments...a mistake, in my view, as that camera might have been worth a lower-middle-class salary by now. I'd have taken the money. (Maybe he'll see this and speak up with his own thoughts.)

Also a number of years ago, I had the opportunity to buy the Leica enlarging lens that Lee Friedlander had owned and used for many years to enlarge his 35mm work. I still regret not buying it (it wasn't considered L. Friedlander ephemera at the time, or at least only enough to command a bit of a premium, some fraction more than its value as a lens). But why should I feel that way? It's not like the object contains the light that was beamed through it. I really have no clear idea why I wanted it or what I would have done with it.

hugh crawford adds: "Re: that Keith Haring camera. It would probably be worth something if it was signed or had some sort of provenance. As it is, it's just one of many things that we sat around doodling on when Keith was best known as the busboy at danceteria with the glasses he was always re-painting. I once had a lot of stuff he doodled on including that car that you posted a photo of a while back, and even a few drawings, all lost now along with some Andy Warhol drawings on dollar bills and a bunch of similar stuff.

"The only famous-ish previously-owned camera I have is a Canon 1Ds once owned by Matthieu Ricard, 'the happiest man in the world' if you Google it. It’s a long story…don’t think it’s a big deal, but who knows. I also have the wheel that kept Paul Newman from winning LeMans, also a long story. The rest of the car recently sold for 4.4 million dollars (he came in second after the wheel jammed on the axle during a pit stop and it took a half hour to replace the axle) so maybe there is something worthwhile there."

Dave Kerr: "I'm reminded of the time a Vietnamese student came to class with a somewhat beat-up old Nikon. Her father was there in the late '60s, early '70s. She didn't have much of its history other than it once belonged to a famous news reporter. Crudely etched on the base plate was the name 'T. Koppell '66-69.' I photographed it and sent Mr. Koppell a photo and the story, thinking he might want to have it back. No reply. Like you, for a fleeting moment, I thought I would have liked to own it."

Larry Gebhardt: "I bought renowned Miata writer, and sometimes photographer, Mike Johnston's old Miata. I expect the collectors to be lining up at my door any day now. While waiting I'll continue to drive it on nice days."

Mike replies: Now that has provenance!

Geoff Wittig: "Many amateur artists obsess about the tools used by artists they admire. Any skilled painter giving a presentation or workshop will be bombarded with questions about which specific pigments, linen supports or brushes they use, because aspiring painters hope to learn some secret of tools or materials that will reliably lead to a masterpiece. But of course it's the artist's thought process, the thousand decisions over the course of a painting's creation that contain the magic, not the tools. It's no different with cameras and lenses. I could sleep with Henri Cartier-Bresson's Leica under my pillow, but my street photography would still suck."

Ilkka: "Tim Page has written two books that talk quite a bit about Sean Flynn. Page After Page is an autobiography where he describes their adventures as photojournalists in Vietnam. Another, later book, Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden, talks about when Page went back to Vietnam after the war and spent some time searching for Sean Flynn. Interesting reads both of them."

Gary B: "I read this article when it first appeared on the Japan Camera Hunter website a couple of weeks ago. I'm currently living in Hanoi, so at the weekend whilst passing the recently opened (last year) Leica boutique store I called in to ask when the exhibition of the camera and related photography would open. The staff knew nothing about it!"

Comments

[David L.]

I have an M4-2 that was supposedly previously owned by a known photo-journalist. Who? I never found out. But it's been a workhorse camera and I enjoy it for its faithful service.

[Keith]

I can understand the attachment to an object owned by a relative and handed down might be priceless in the eyes of the current owner. Maybe it will be equally valuable to whoever they pass it to, or maybe not.
I can understand an object made or embellished by a friend, regardless if they happen to be famous. I couldn't sell such a thing. I think Mike's friend did the right thing, used the camera for it's intended purpose enough to wear the embellishment off. I've little doubt he thought of his friend every time he used it.
But a bought object? I don't get it.

[Rupert]

Ken Tanaka wrote:
But the bigger question: what ephemera of today’s generation will be treated as a devotional artifacts in the future? I really can’t think of anything!

According to contagion theory, any artifact that has been used, and physically touched — presumably even an iPhone or Bluetooth earbuds — should qualify (^^;

[Nick Cutler]

Memorabilia puzzle me too: I don't really believe that one object might be worth far more than an identical object just because ......
But the objects themselves can be of value in more ways than monetary. A few weeks ago I was allowed to handle a 4000 year old bronze axe head: beautifully made with great skill and precision, you could not do better today.
The sense of connection to the unknown maker all those years ago was emotional and humbling: I'd love to have a conversation with him.

[Speed]

We hear this kind of "woulda, shoulda, coulda" all the time in the securities industry.

Apple is the most valuable company in the world today. If only you’d predicted that coming two and a half decades ago, you’d be a lot richer as well.
[ ... ]
... your 100 shares would have multiplied into 5,600 today, and your initial investment would now be worth $632,800. That’s a return of 28,663%. And that’s before dividends, which would have added another $5,936 to your return so far this year alone.

http://fortune.com/2015/12/11/apple-stock-ipo-today/

(Dec. 11, 2015)

[mike plews]

There is certain grandeur about a brassed up black Leica or Nikon F. I suppose at least half the paint has to have been worn off during your watch for you to sport one without feeling like some kind of poseur.
Of course this M2 will never see film again. The camera is now an artifact rather than a tool. Beautiful object with a sad story to tell.

[Mark Kinsman]

It’s the allure of fame, drawing us near
Iike a moth to flame. As if some magic was instilled in the object by the famous owner that might rub off on us. In reality, it’s just a piece of history that works the same as any other similar object.

[Mark Kinsman]

... to add to my previous comment: it is an awesome story none the less! I hope the camera does remain in the public eye.

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

I find humans' fascination with fame both curious and uninteretimg. I assume psychology will have worked out the mental aspects behind this fascination.
The interest in historical and vintage / antique items also goes through fads in determining an item’s monetary worth, but then an item’s worth to an individual is very subjective. If someone has the inclination, time, money and space to collect and store, good on them. Otherwise, museums fill the role nicely in preserving historical items, including in their context.

[PSmith]

Reminds me of this book by Christopher Koch, who also wrote The Year of Living Dangerously - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highways_to_a_War

It's about a photographer that disappears in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the efforts of a friend to find out what happened to him years later. I wonder now if this novel was inspired by Sean Flynn.

[John London]

My only claim to memorabilia fame is I own the 85mm f1.4 AiS Nikon lens which took the photograph of a crying Margaret Thatcher leaving No 10 for the last time in the back of a Government limo'.

[Clayton]

I have the Brownie Hawkeye that my elder sister won with a photo of my younger sister a while back. (1956?) https://www.flickr.com/photos/claylof/28345188099/in/dateposted-public/

[Frank Petronio]

What’s a steel-rimmed Summilux? I thought in that era they were Aluminum so did Leica do a run of tougher Summiluxes?

[I should have put that in quotes too. I just got it from the article. (Nobody in here but us chickens.)

Fixed now. --Mike]

[George Feucht]

I own my dream camera: A plain-jane Leica M6 with ZERO history. Zero significance. Zero collectability. Limited production run? Hell no!

These are tools. The magic goes away when the master goes away. If you offered me HCB's Leica at a standard price, I'd say "Hmmmmm... No built-in meter, right?"

[Strummer]

"You know he heard the drums of war..."

[Bob Johnston]

I seem to remember that Leica once made a factory brassed up MP which Lenny Kravitz was supposed to have designed. What on earth was that about? I would love to know how many they sold.

[Robert Roaldi]

I am semi-addicted to the TV program Antiques Roadshow. My wife and I like to sit there and get angry, shouting at the tube, "That crap is worth how much!?!"

[Richard Parkin]

One problem with this pursuit of “celebrity” goods is that it can lead you to write, as in the link you gave, “Fortunately, Flynn did not have the camera with him when he was captured ...”. Fortunately he didn’t have that camera case with either. Fortunately it was never discovered what happened to him giving it an air of mystery. Fortunate indeed!

[robert quiet photographer]

I read Sean Flynn and Dana Stone story in "Requiem" a book edited by Horst Haas and Tim Page dedicated and assembled through the work of 135 photographers of different nations who are known to have died or to have disappeared while coverings the wars in Indochina, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

In the book are stories and photos of photographers on both sides of the war. Although I do not like war photography personally I found this book interesting and a way to remember their lives.

robert

[Tom]

Horst Faas, rather than Haas. I'm grateful nonetheless to Robert for jogging my memory of the title of an excellent book I'd been trying to recall all day. I was lucky enough to meet Horst one day in the AP offices in London around 1990. Although he was only passing through he was gracious enough to accept my invitation to look over my portfolio. Horst was legendary as the photo editor who pushed against opposition for both Eddie Adams' picture of the execution of General Nguyen Ngoc Loan And Nick Ut's image of Phan Thị Kim Phúc to go out on the wire service.

[Warren Maas]

A few years ago, while looking for a 21mm for my M8, I happened on a Voigtlander 21 color skopar ltm at a decent price.
The young man behind the counter mentioned that it belonged to his teacher at U.T. I asked who his teacher was and he said, Eli Reed. Bought the lens but I still can't make it look like Eli's work. Oh well.

[Kevin Purcell]

Curious wording in the last paragraph of the JCH article:

The camera will be featured with the bag and prints of Sean’s, Tim’s and others work at shows in the Leica store in Hanoi and at a government house in Ho Chi Minh city. There is the possibility of the show touring to other countries in the future. The camera will reside in Saigon with its owner.

It's almost like Saigon and Ho Chi Minh city are two different places. :-)

[cgw]

I have a defensible belief in ghosts but refuse to believe they ever inhabit "stuff." Flynn's old Leica is, well, just another brassed-up old camera with a story. Frankly, I find Hunt's hocking of this particular holy relic to be mildly creepy.