Prospect Park Roll of Film Mystery Solved

Park Slope gets a bad rap most of the time (thanks Colin Quinn). And yes, sometimes deservedly so and sometimes because the pot shots are soo easy to make that T Mobile thinks huge banners poking fun at our fair neighborhood will make sense to the rest of the city. Then every so often something truly bitchin happens to someone here. Sometimes it's even worth sharing sans most of the snark.

Picture it, the Great Blizzard of 2010!

That time of ole when Brooklyn was cut off from the civilized world under 7,000 inches of snow and all we did was bitch about the MIA plows and lack of garbage pick up (wash, rinse, repeat)? Well remember that dude by the name of Todd Bieber (no relation to Justin, I don't think) who decided to go cross country skiing in Prospect Park after the snowpocalypse and came across a canister of film? His first thought was a typical one, "Who still uses film?" Then he decided he would get the pictures developed out of sheer curiousity, as he told NPR. What he saw was amazing: gorgeous black and white photographs of well-known New York landmarks completely covered in snow.

So he posts a video on You Tube asking people for help in identifying the owner of the pictures. After a million views and little under two weeks, a girl named Camille Roche from Paris said the photos were hers and sent Todd pictures taken by her two brothers (also in the photographs) as proof of who she was. She suggested throwing the pics in the mail and calling it a day but Todd was so moved by his experience that he decided he would deliver them in person. Through his video he had come across people who offered him their homes or a meet-up should he ever swing by Europe.

Todd and his girlfriend booked plane tickets and went on a four-country tour through the Continent staying with and meeting up with many of the people he had met online through his experience with the found film. He documented this trip with a great 5 minute video you can see here. 

After meeting up and becoming friends they finished up Todd's roll of film and left it at the same cafe Amelie worked at in Montmartre. They left a note on the canister that said:

"It happened once, it can happen again. If you find me, I'll buy you coffee and we'll become friends. It's the beginning of an adventure."

Well Todd, I hope those pictures make their way back to you and even if they don't, you've inspired me tonight to drink a glass of red wine, put on the Amelie soundtrack while doing my dishes and not turn my nose up at the next adventure that comes my way.