The Man With Over 1000 Cameras In His Collection

How many cameras is too many? Is a question you and I may ask but for Hong-Kong based collector, T.M. Wong, it doesn't seem to be a question he has an answer to. 

With over 1200 analogue cameras in his collection so far, Wong holds the World Record, from the World Record Academy, for the most instant cameras owned by any one person. In fact, his collection is that big, he has his own warehouse where he keeps and catalogues them. 

According to Polaroid, Wong started collecting analogue cameras in the early 2000s but his first instant camera, the Kodak EK2, was actually given to him by his father when he was just nine-years-old. He was 20-years-old when he purchased his first instant camera, a brown SX-70, and from there, his interest in the analogue camera world continued to grow with a 60-strong collection multiplying into hundreds and then thousands once Wong discovered eBay. 

Now, at least 800 of the models in Wong's collection are Polaroids but he also has a YC-75X100 which was China's first self-developing instant Twin-Lens Reflex camera. 

Wong told Polaroid: "I've been collecting these cameras for around 20 years, and I hope that, before I die, I can find someone to commit (to) not selling them."

To see the full interview and to learn more about the camera collection, visit the Polaroid website where you can also purchase your own vintage Polaroid camera to start your own instant camera collection. 

Both images - © Polaroid