Eagle Rock Camera & Goods on Colorado Boulevard announced via Instagram that the camera store’s last day in business was Feb. 7. The post cited issues with the location as the reason for the closure.
Employee Matt Welch said he got his job at the store after getting to know owners Jason Lee and Raymond Molinar as a customer.
“Jason and Raymond created a space that a lot of people sought out and made a community hub,” Welch said. “As small as it was, as brief as it was, it was cool meeting so many people who were just stoked about photography and art.”
According to Welch, Eagle Rock Camera & Goods partnered with The Photo Dept. Lab to develop patrons’ film. According to Instagram, The Photo Dept. Lab had a physical dropbox where photographers could drop off their undeveloped film.
“When [Eagle Rock Camera & Goods] was open, you could buy film, you could buy vintage used cameras, photo books and photo accessories,” Welch said. “You could drop off your film for processing and scanning as well.”
Olivia Fishman ’24, a former Arts & Culture editor for The Occidental, spoke with Lee and Molinar in 2024, shortly after the store opened in December 2023.
“[Lee] and [Molinar] were really chill and nice guys, and I was really happy for them,” Fishman said. “I think it’s really sad that another small business is closing […] I think it really resonated with community members, and it’s unfortunate that it closed down relatively quickly.”
Repeat customer and hobbyist photographer Chris Wessman said he liked that there was a physical camera shop that patrons could visit.
“A lot of film photography is kind of gone by the wayside because everyone wants to shoot digitally,” Wessman said. “I appreciate that there’s other people [who] appreciate the artistic side of photography and film, photographs and all the avenues that come along with it.”
Welch said he believes that film photography is a different way of seeing the world, and that he appreciates the intentional aspect of shooting on film.
“I have tens of thousands of photos on my phone that I barely look at, but I still go back and look at my negatives or I’ll open my Polaroid albums,” Welch said. “We have those forever, as long as [we] take care of them.”
Welch said he is really grateful for the shop and all that it offered.
“It was a really rad place to go and hang out and pick up film and cool cameras,” Welch said. “[I got] to look through photobooks that are out of my wheelhouse or new to me and find out about photographers I’ve never known before.”
According to Fishman, Eagle Rock Camera & Goods was a unique location, with a reading table in the center that helped create a community hub in the store.
“The area hadn’t had an analog film [or] camera shop and it fit perfectly,” Fishman said. “It was a really nice store.”
Welch said he will miss the community the store formed. He said he is grateful for his time at the shop and the relationships — including with Lee and Molinar — he formed while working there.
“I’ve always loved both of their work, and when I found out they were opening a shop in the neighborhood, I was really excited [about] it,” Welch said. “I just got really fortunate that I got to get to know them through going there and eventually working there.”
Contact Abigail Montopoli at montopoli@oxy.edu
