How to print a photo in the reality of the 20th century?

First of all, you need a film camera. At least a Smena. Cool if you had a Zenit.

Then buy a film and load it into your camera. Shoot 36 pictures. And during this time, you do not know for sure whether the film slides from one reel to another, whether frames are focused and not light-struck. (Imagine: You run into Yuri Gagarin. You take your camera, make a picture… And afterwards, you see it was unfocused!)

Later you have your film developed at a photo lab. The way of a beginner. And what about a layman at the advanced level? He takes out of the box room different stuff: chemicals, developing tanks, an enlarger, a red lamp, tweezers, a glazer… He also warns his housemates by no means to enter the bathroom and to be on the safe side twists the bulb out of the socket. He blacks out the bathroom, enters it, closes the door and starts performing his mystery!

Today, all this is more prosaic. Everyone can take pictures and immediately print them out using a home printer. Or not to print them at all, but scroll through endless images in your smartphone and spam them to chats.

By the way, how did people share photos in the last century?

About this next Friday.

In the photo: V. B. Flyagin and Director of LNP V. P. Dzhelepov (JINR Photo Archive); historical pieces from the Museum-Study of Bruno Pontecorvo (DLNP, JINR), including a glass negative—a photo of Bruno and Marianna Pontecorvo.