Hanging Negatives in the Cellar, June 1968

Photo 5 of 10 · S1 · E11 · The Darkroom on Rue Saint-Benoît, June 1968 · Chapter 2: Paris, 1968

Curly strips of film hang from a wire line. I can see tiny sprocket holes along every edge.

Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys to move, and Enter to pick up and put down. Pieces that fit together join and move as one.

About this picture

Strips of developed black-and-white negative film hang from a taut wire strung across a quiet cellar darkroom. Wooden clothespins secure each strip along the top edge, while rectangular metal clips weigh down the bottoms to keep them straight as they dry. Water droplets cling to the lower edges, dripping toward the cobblestone floor. On the workbench, shallow developer trays and chemical bottles sit in shadow, while warm afternoon sunlight slips through a cracked wooden doorway.

The story so far

This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. Mira assembled a lively afternoon at Café de Flore among Ada's photographer friends. Under an empty coffee cup, Ada had found an impossible drawing of their Lantern Street shop.

How to play

Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. Hold Preview for a faded glimpse of the photo: enough to see where the sky and the street go, not the details. Pieces that belong together join up and move as one, and turn green once they are in the right place. You have 3:00 for these 25 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with1:12 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 32 moves or fewer. Each episode starts with 2 hints and earns more along the way; unused hints carry over to later photos. Playing needs a free account, which keeps your stars and stamps on every device. Restoring photos earns stamps (more for more stars, and extra for whole episodes), which buy more time or more hints. Once the photo is restored, turn it over and look for the clue hidden in it. Photos open one after another and episodes in order; each new chapter opens once you have enough stars from the chapters before it.