The story about Sean
Flynn's Leica M2 garnered alot more interest than I expected. This morning I received an email from Billy
Beach, offering me the back story on how the camera was found. It is an interesting addition to yesterday’s
post about this camera.
SEAN FLYNN’S CAMERA
By Billy Beach
I'm flying at 483 miles per hour aboard a
Delta commercial flight heading to Honolulu from Wilmington, NC. I've got
another 3,569 miles to go. I'm reading Michael Herr's "Dispatches" on
my google pixel and through my headphones, I'm listening to the "Clash"
song "Sean Flynn." What's ironic is that Sean Flynn's camera is
sitting in a heavily padded case, wrapped in an East Coast Film Lab t-shirt by
my feet. How did I get here?
For those of you who don't know, Sean
Flynn was one of a group of Gonzo (high risk) photojournalists during the
Vietnam war. These photojournalists would go anywhere do anything to get the
shot. They brought back some iconic images of the Vietnam War. Sean even
parachuted with the 5th Special Forces Group and the 101st airborne. Flynn was
also the only son of the Hollywood swashbuckler actor Errol Flynn. (Captain
Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, et al).
Sean had a brief recording career and a short lived career as an actor before
he found his niche as a war photographer for Paris Match, Time Life and finally
United Press International.
On April 6th 1970 on highway one from
Phnom Penh on the way to a press conference in Saigon, Sean and his friend Dana
Stone (shooting for CBS news) opted to ride motorcycles to get some shots of
the VietCong manning a checkpoint. They
were captured by communist guerilla's en
route. The last know still shot taken of them was right before they left and it
was taken by Steve Bell, (who later hosted ABC's Good Morning America). Right
before the checkpoint a French TV news crew interviewed Sean.
Last known still photo of
Sean Flynn and Dana Stone
on the way to Saigon from Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Photo by Steve Bell.
Last known still photo of
Sean Flynn and Dana Stone on the way to Saigon from Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Photo by Steve Bell.
Sean was using his Nikon the day of his
capture. His prized Leica M2 was left in his lodgings with his other gear.
After his disappearance, John Steinbeck IV, (son of John Steinbeck the author),
got hold of Sean's Leica and kept it to pass on to Sean's family. In 1972
Sean's sister Rory was modeling in London. John Steinbeck IV, brought the
camera to her, fulfilling his obligation.
Rory kept the camera, hoping that Sean
would be found. Sean's mother (the actress Lilli Damita) spent a small fortune,
trying to find what happened to Sean, and Rory later helped finance an
expedition to find the bodies of her brother and Dana Stone. The camera stayed in Rory's safe for many
years.
Sean Flynn in Vietnam
I've always been a fan of the actor Errol
Flynn, and had read several books on him and his family over the years. Being a
photographer I was quite familiar with Sean Flynn and the somewhat crazy
photojournalists who photographed the Vietnam war. I knew he was missing and
that his and Dana's disappearance was one of the great mysteries of the Vietnam
War. While working part-time in the local camera store in Wilmington, NC, I
looked over the shoulder of one of the employees while she was scanning some
photos. I recognized Errol Flynn and asked who brought the images to the store.
She replied "Some woman named Rory." Rory Flynn? Errol Flynn's
daughter? She lives here? I had no idea. A few weeks later while working the
store Rory came in. I struck up a conversation with her and over the next
couple of years a tenuous friendship developed. She mentioned that she had
Sean's camera and I asked to see it. Several months later she brought the
camera to the store. A very beat up Leica M2 with a 35mm 1.4 sumilux lens. It
had a grenade pin and some parachute cord for a strap. It was heavily brassed
but in working order. My jaw fell open. Several months later Rory called me and
stated that she realized that Sean was
never coming back and would I help her sell his camera.
I knew this was a historic camera but had
no idea of it's value. I got together with my friend and business partner Chad,
who is a bit of a genius when it comes to film cameras. We co-own East CoastFilm Lab. Our immediate thought was to put it on ebay, and see what an auction
would bring. Again, we had no idea of the value and were nervous to have to
ship the camera to someone we didn't know. We built a website
(seanflynnscamera) with images and the story of the camera. Chad was a devoted
follower of Bellamy Hunt the infamous Japan Camera Hunter. Bellamy specializes
in rare, hard to find, historic cameras so we reached out to him. Bellamy seems
know everyone in the film camera world and he immediately told us he was
interested and would help find a buyer. Several months went by with a lot of
give and take, but Bellamy found a buyer in Vietnam of all places.
Getting ready to jump
Now the problem was getting the camera to
Bellamy in Tokyo. We were very nervous about shipping such a historic camera
and the insurance would have been through the roof. I started checking prices
on flights to Tokyo. I used to live in Japan, so a trip to Tokyo would have
been fun but I couldn't take much time off, so it would have been a very quick
trip. I was getting ready to buy my ticket when Bellamy skyped Chad that he
would be in Hawaii the following week. I also used to live in Hawaii and being
it was December, a trip to Hawaii was shorter, less expensive and a better fit
all around. I flew to Honolulu on a Monday, got settled in my hotel and went to
meet Bellamy. I met him outside his hotel and handed over the camera. It was
bittersweet. I had enjoyed having Sean's camera in my possession but Rory, Chad
and I knew it was going to a collector who would treasure and take care of the
camera. Going back to Vietnam after all these years was sort of prophetic and I
feel we got the right owner. Bellamy will be telling the rest of the story on
his website Japan Camera Hunter sometime in the near future. My next trip might
be to Vietnam.
For other articles on this blog scroll down in the column to the right to BLOG ARCHIVE
For other articles on this blog scroll down in the column to the right to BLOG ARCHIVE
To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.
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Buy vintage Leica cameras from
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Buy vintage Leica cameras from
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Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
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Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
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