KODACHROME
1935-2010
R.I.P
 |
| Photo. Image Permanence Institute |
Kodachrome film was introduced in 1935 and was the first commercially successful chromogenic color process. A transparency, or slide, it is a one-of-a-kind direct positive image containing three emulsion layers. Although prints can be made from the slides. Each layer is dyed a subtractive color with cyan on the bottom, magenta in the middle and yellow as the top layer. The result is a positive image on transparent support. Two musicians "turned scientists" Leopold Godowsky Jr. and Leopold Mannes, employed at Kodak's research facility in Rochester, looking for a higher quality color film, experimented and the process was first used as 16 mm film. Within a year, film for still cameras was available but was extremely costly.The film is "basically black and white." The dye is not added until the development process and this is what gave Kodachrome images the unique, very saturated color look. The color was fade resistant and very stable if stored properly. For the first twenty years of its production the Kodak laboratory controlled all the processing. In 1954 the Department of Justice declared Kodachrome processing a monopoly and Kodak was forced to allow other finishing facilities to process the film. The price of a roll of film,that originally had the processing cost added in, fell by 43%. This drop in price and increased options for processing brought Kodachrome into its heyday in the late fifties. But as early as 1936, Kodachrome was the film that captured a color version of the Hindenburg disaster. Sir Edmund Hilary took Kodachrome to the top of Mount Everest in 1953 and Abraham Zapruder using 8-mm Kodachrome "accidentally" recorded President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas.
Kodachrome II was released in 1961. It was a faster and more versatile version of the film and was popular with the point and shoot generation. Super 8, a low-speed, fine-grain Kodachrome movie film was released in 1965. Both were popular for recording family events featured in Kodaslide projector shows and Super 8 film showings. Kodachrome was popularized in song by Paul Simon in 1973 and it was used extensively by National Geographic photographers. In 1948 National Geographic explored and photographed extensively a wilderness area in Utah and subsequently named it Kodachrome Basin State Park It was changed to Chimney Rock State Park but a few years later was officially renamed Kodachrome Basin with Kodak's approval.
Steve McCurry shot one of the most iconic images of the 20th century in Kodachrome for National Geographic.
 |
| Photo by Steve McCurry |
By the 1980s video camcorders were in use and film producers like Fuji and Polaroid took over Kodachrome's market share. Kodak ended their film-processing in 1988 and gradually stopped film-manufacturing. "By 2008 Kodak was producing only one Kodachrome film run-- a mile-long sheet cut into 20,000 rolls-a year." On June 22, 2009 the Eastman Kodak Company announced that they would be discontinuing production of Kodachrome film. At that point it represented a fraction of 1% of their still film sales.
Kodachrome 2010 Vimeo Check out this great Vimeo that features the last lab, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons Kansas to process Kodachrome.
When Steve McCurry learned of the imminent demise of Kodachrome film, he contacted Kodak's marketing head and persuaded her to give him the very last roll of film to come off the assembly line at the plant in Rochester. Kodak gave the last remaining rolls to the George Eastman House's Photography Museum but one last roll was "symbolically" shot by McCurry and his images, taken in India, New York, and Parsons Kansas, the home of Dwaynes Photo are known as Last Roll of Kodachrome. His 36 images are a mixture of portraiture, photojournalism and street photography. McCurry has been shooting digital for quite a while but over the last 4 decades he has shot at least 800,000 Kodachrome frames. He maintains that he still has a few rolls of Kodachrome in his refrigerator just in case of a revival like with Polaroid.
Fred Herzog - A Kodachrome Man
see the article and more photographs in "The Design Observer Group"
 |
| photo by Fred Herzog |
Fred Herzog started shooting Kodachrome slide film in 1953. It was his choice for the vivid color and he was aware of its excellent archival qualities. But at that stage of his life, he was not able to afford to have prints made from his slides so he just continued to shoot and store his images.
Recently, Herzog discovered archival laser printing and his work is being shown and widely recognized as a significant body of work in the art world.
In 2007 I heard the rumblings of the end of Kodachrome. I hadn't been a user. I mostly shot Tri-x but I thought it would be a good idea to get in on the last days and I just couldn't get that Paul Simon song out of my head. So I bought a few rolls and shot it in my 35 mm Canon and sent it off to Dwayne's and here are a few samples. The 2 sort of abstracts in yellow and red were taken at Mass Moca in North Adams.
 |
| E.Antaya |
 |
| E.Antaya |
 |
| E.Antaya |
 |
| E.Antaya |
References:
http://www.graphicsatlas.org/ Image Permanence Institute. web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://stevemccurry.com/galleries/last-roll-kodachrome. "The Last Roll of Kodachrome." stevemccurry.com. web. 28 Apr. 2013
http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/ Dwayne's Photo. web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Engle, Dresden. "Saying 'Farewell' while celebrating 75 years of Kodachrome." George Eastman House Blog. 5 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2013
Foster, John. "Kodachrome Finds New Life." The Design Observer Group. 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Kodak. "Kodachrome discontinuance notice." Eastman Kodak Company. 22 June 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Sudduth, Claire. "A Brief History of Kodachrome." Time. 23 June 2009. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Zander, Robin. "Kodachrome 2010." Vimeo. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment