It was back in the mid-1970s when Napier man Dean Mardon noticed the city he was born and grew up in was starting to change.
"Things were starting to come down, and new things were starting to go up," he said.
So, armed with a simple and modest Kodak Instamatic camera, he started taking shots, in glorious black and white, of the changing face of Napier.
The young historian also started collecting stories and cuttings which he put together in albums.
It was the start of a life-long interest in the city and the times he grew up in.
"The first pictures I took were of the aquarium going up on Marine Parade."
It was an interest which has now sparked something of a nostalgia tsunami generated by a Facebook site he set up last month, called Old Napier, and which he figured may get some interest - but has effectively gone ballistic.
Like the evolution of Napier's landscape over the past 40 years, technology had evolved from little plastic cameras and rolls of film to a global website phenomenon - called Facebook.
"I can't believe the response to it - it's blown me away," he said, adding that as owner/manager of Electric City Music (his day job) the mounting hits and growth of the site meant it was now taking up a lot of his time.
"I have to pace things," he said with a smile.
Setting up a Facebook page was something he had been planning to do for quite a while, but he wanted something with a difference - something which would get others involved.
"I came across a site called Old Wellington, and there was another one about Dunedin, but they featured really old pictures from a lot earlier. I thought 'that's it ... Old Napier' but the difference being the photos would be from more recent generations (those now from 30 through to 60)."
He set the page up and put a few of his old photos on, and a couple of mates checked in and they put through a couple of theirs.
"I had about 10 or 20 'friends' on board and then, all of a sudden, it just went off."
In just six weeks the 'likes' had hit 3000.
As of yesterday, the 'likes' of the site had reached 3443, with 3757 people 'talking' about the site.
"Nostalgia is a very strong hook ... It triggers the memory and people love to see the city again the way they remember it when they were growing up."
Among the growing field of images, which includes some video footage such as drives through the CBD circa the 1970s, and the old rail cars at the Napier Railway Station, the most popular has been a shot of the old children's' paddling pool on Marine Parade, where the Ocean Spa stands today.
It had received 878 'likes'.
Mr Mardon said the responses from people accessing the page summed it all up.
Like - "Holy hell ... I remember that!" and "Oh that takes me back".
Bumper boats, Can-Am cars, young people on the dance floor at Michael's Place, the old Emerson St centennial arches, the old railway yards, Olympic Pools, the old skating rink and images of shops and businesses long gone.
Mr Mardon said he was delighted at the response, but not surprised.
"People weren't all that interested in what was around them back then - but now they are. It's the memories."
Memories being sparked as the result of one man who took up a little plastic camera one day and started taking pictures of the city around him, and which had now gone global via the internet.
"So this has been more than 30 years in the planning," he said with a laugh.