Spy cameras auction to bring sleuths out of woodwork

While most people associate miniature cameras with the likes of fictional British spy James Bond or the KGB and CIA, United States-born but Australian-based adventurer Willie Feinberg had just as practical a reason for their use.

They were small, light and sophisticated – ideal for his penchant for travelling the world and recording its many faces.

Born in 1935, Willie grew up in South Bronx – the only white kid in an all-black school in the bleak pre- World War II years of industrial America.

He served in two armies – the US and Israeli – before devoting his passions to serving mankind through the United Nations and later the Australian Government, creating small industries in underprivileged countries.

Much of his travel was on foot as it was the only way to access remote jungle and mountain top villages, so bare necessities were all he could carry - hence his love affair with the intricate yet robust miniature cameras.

Willie, who died last year, has left an extraordinary legacy of 235 cameras – many of them affectionately known as spy cameras from the likes of Minox and Ukraine military supplier Kiev Arsenal.

Among these ingenious creations are cameras that appear to have no bearing on their intended purpose.

A good example is a box of John Player cigarettes manufactured in the 1970s by Kiev Arsenal. To the unsuspecting eye it is a typical packet of cigarettes. Several protrude from the packet to be used as camera controls – with the lens hidden along the side of pack.

Former Latvian, now German, manufacturer of sub-miniature espionage cameras, Minox, is well represented in the collection.

Their cameras were used by both sides of the Cold War and some of the models were manufactured as recently as 2008.

Mossgreen will auction the collection from 2pm Sunday April 13 at 926-930 High Street, Armadale.