Before Instagram

Before Instagram, photos taken on 120 roll film were naturally square. There were 12 exposures in a roll. The film had no sprocket holes, the frame number printed on the backing paper could be seen in a small red window. No shutter interlock; one had to learn the discipline of winding on after every shot to avoid double exposure.

This is one of the earliest photos I took, of my primary school class with our teacher. You will notice that most of the pupils were girls. I went to a Chinese girls school which actually meant that it was predominantly girls, with about 20% boys. My older siblings wanted me to learn Chinese, at least in the primary stage (years 1-6).