Kodak Discontinues Kodachrome Film Amidst Barrage of Terrible Paul Simon Jokes
By John Herrman, 12:40 PM on Mon Jun 22 2009, 20,832 views
We get it, Associated Press, Paul Simon wrote a popular song with the word "Kodachrome" in it. But that's only a tiny—ifannoying catchy—part of the film's tremendous legacy, which stretches back to 1935.
On a technical level, Kodachrome—the first truly popular color film—is a dinosaur, requiring color to be added during development in a process which a particularly charitable technician might call "exacting." Nonetheless, for decades many photographers swore by the format for its color accuracy, versatility, and pedigree. Today, just one lab still processes the film, and it makes up less than one percent of Kodak's total still film sales, which, let's face it, probably aren't very high right now.
What sounds like a boring, inevitable "death of film" story at first is transformed into something of a tragedy with context—a favorite of motion and still film professionals, Kodachrome film is behind some of the most iconic images of our, our parents', and our grandparents' times: Steve McCurry's famous "Afghan Girl" photo for National Geographic, above, was shot on the film, as was Zapruder's video of Kennedy's assassination. (See this interview for McCurry's thoughts on Kodachrome). Kodak has assembled a gallery of the film's greatest hits, excerpted here. It's fairly spectacular, even to a child of the digital age. [AP]
June 22, 2009
A Tribute to KODACHROME: A Photography Icon
They say all good things in life come to an end. Today we announced that Kodak will retire KODACHROME Film, concluding its 74-year run.
It was a difficult decision, given its rich history. At the end of the day, photographers have told us and showed us they've moved on to newer other Kodak films and/or digital. KODACHROME Film currently represents a fraction of one percent of our film sales. We at Kodak want to celebrate with you the rich history of this storied film. Feel free to share with us your fondest memories of Kodachrome.
© Steve McCurry
Sharbat Gula, Afghan Girl, at Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984.
I've had the profound privilege of working with the world's greatest photographers in my role here at Kodak. I serve as the company's liaison with the pro community, and I've gotten to know the best of the best. Each one has their Kodachrome story.
I thought I'd share with you some reflections on Kodachrome from a small sampling of these great artists - Steve McCurry, Eric Meola, and Peter Guttman.
Listen to what Steve and Peter have to say as they reflect back:
"Before digital, Kodak was already shifting gears--moving away from the boundaries of KODACHROME (long lab times, fewer labs, a more environmentally friendly, as well as constrained, chemistry)" said Meola. "E100SW and E100VS were a natural evolution of the KODACHROME look, and made my life a lot easier. And they kept all the great things about KODACHROME --long latitude, fine grain, great color--and made it easier for me to get processed anywhere. In some ways, those films were natural predecessors to the digital age."
Steve McCurry, whose picture of a young Afghan girl captured the hearts of millions of people around the world as she peered hauntingly from the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985, offered these words:
"The early part of my career was dominated by KODACHROME, and I reached for that film to shoot some of my most memorable images," said McCurry. "While KODACHROME Film was very good to me, I have since moved on to other films and digital to create my images. In fact, when I returned to shoot the 'Afghan Girl' 17 years later, I used Kodak's E100VS film to create that image, rather than KODACHROME Film as with the original." 
© Peter Guttman
From Peter Guttman: "Kodachrome was for me the visual crib in which my photographic dreams and visions were nurtured. The rich hues, and startlingly lifelike textures imbued within this elegantly crafted film provided a vivid training ground for sharpening my vision of the world. The initial draw to Kodachrome was its unrivalled archival durability, but I shortly realized the magnificent renderings of reality that the film was capable of. I credit Kodachrome as my most reliable tutor, educating my eyeball with an awareness of the delicacy of light and the subtleties of color.
With the strict discipline of a Kodachrome vision firmly under my belt, I felt free to playfully experiment with other films. I have in recent years become enamored with Ektachrome 100VS which has now become my film of choice for its dazzling hues, deeply saturated color and intense sharpness--all optical tools that serve me well in portraying our planet's stunning diversity."
View our slideshow of great KODACHROME moments. 
© Eric Meola
"There are in life a few constants, but far too few. The sun rises in the morning and sets at night, and Kodachrome was what was always there to help us record those sunrises and sunsets and to brilliantly capture that ephemeral distance between light and shadow.
We would win awards with it, and the images that the light burned into its emulsion were a paean to this film, as much as the film was part of the soul of the photographers who used it and the unparalleled images they made with it.
We waited up nights to open those golden boxes--like young children surprised with glee and knowing we could drift asleep again and that all was right with the world, and that th
June 22nd, 2009, 7 AM Eastern Standard time:
Today, Eastman Kodak Corporation has officially announced the retirement of Kodachrome 64, the last remaining variation of legendary Kodachrome Color Film. This includes both consumer 135 KR-64-36 and professional 135 PKR-64-36 versions. However, Kodak and the only remaining lab in the world that develops Kodachrome have contracted to honor customer's requests for Kodachrome processing until at least 12/31/2010. In addition to this support, Kodak has stated that in current production and supply, Kodachrome film should be available until early Fall of this year with distribution that is considerate to all who would want to use it.*
This presents the public with a unique opportunity to still experience the film first hand before it is too late, with it’'s 75th anniversary being well within reach of Kodachrome fans next year.*
“"Kodachrome Film is an iconic product and a testament to Kodak’'s long and continuing leadership in imaging technology",” said Mary Jane Hellyar, President of Kodak’'s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group. "It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given it's rich history. However, the majority of today's photographers have voiced their preference to capture images with newer technology,– both film and digital. Kodak remains committed to providing the highest-performing products –both film and digital –to meet those needs.”"
As cited in a press release given by Kodak this morning, Kodachrome Film in current use now represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’'s total sales of still-picture films. Anonymous sources say that in the early 1980's, there were 10 Kodak owned K-14 labs in the US. There were about 30 independent K-14 labs. There were also a number of labs in Europe and some in Asia totaling as many as 36 labs in Kodachrome's heyday. as the process is unlike any other film. The unique factor being that unlike most film processing being the normal 3-7 reasonably controllable steps, “Kodachrome film processing requires what is basically an in house chemist to attend to the no less than fourteen distinct steps to finalize the image. Single Kodachrome lab installations have been known to reach $500,000 for some of the largest operations.*Now there is just one remaining lab in the world in the heartland of the United States.
Yet despite these profound statistics, for over 7 decades, Kodachrome film has remained one of the most prominant photographic icons in pop-culture history. As the brainchild of two musicians partnered with Kodak, Kodachrome FIlm was a standing ovation hit right from it’'s introduction in 1935. So by the time musician Paul Simon released the hit song “"Kodachrome”" in 1973, the thousands of images that had appeared in powerfully storied magazines had drastically changed the way the world viewed the photograph, and the home movie or slide show had become the event for a Saturday night in homes for decades. Some of the photography accomplished on Kodachrome film has represented one of the highest standards of photojournalism in history from the the Great Depression era photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Russell Lee to the thousands of images in magazines such as Life and national Geographic. One of the more memorable recent Kodachrome images is Steve McCurry’'s piercing 1985 National Geographic cover called “Afghan Girl”. In a movement that resonates corporation'’s recognition of the Kodachrome product as an era, Kodak will donate the last rolls of the film made to the George Eastman House of Photography and Film with Steve McCurry shooting one of those last rolls as a donation it self.*
“"The early part of my career was dominated by Kodachrome Film, and I reached for that film to shoot some of my most memorable images",” said McCurry. “"While Kodachrome Film was very good to me, I have since moved on to other films and digital to create my images. In fact, when I returned to shoot the ‘"Afghan Girl’" 17 years later, I used Kodak Professional Ektachrome Film E100VS to create that image, rather than Kodachrome Film as with the original."” In addition to creating newer films that have enabled photographers like McCurry to make powerful images more efficiently and with more options for stable processing, Kodak has recently introduced new consumer films like the recent hit “Ektar 100” Color Negative film and two new motion picture films in the past three years in the form of “Vision2” and “Vision3” motion picture stocks.
But as these new films and even digital start to gain on Kodachrome in terms of technical quality and easily surpass the iconic medium in ease of use, attention is starting to turn on to several unique attributes of the decades old film that is the only photographic medium to have a State Park named after it. Only a month ago, Sports Illustrated released a book called “"Slideshow”" that presents some of the more memorable images from their vast archive shot on slide film. this has been presented in a manner of the total scope of story telling as the slide mounts themselves bear the labels & handwriting of an illustrious journey as they tell a different story in addition to the actual photograph. Many of the images in the magazine’'s archive were shot on Kodachrome and simply appear as the entire slide on the page, labels and scribbles included with an accompanying essay. One of the most profound things about Kodachrome in recent times is that it has been shown very consistently that with reasonable care, the quality of the movies and photographs from professionals and amateurs made with the film can last several lifetimes with virtually no fading whatsoever. This has enticed individuals and magazines to examine their collections and those of others as the old slides take on a new life or permanency as they can be simply held up to the sky to be seen. While digital will always require some from of electronic output to be viewed, Kodachromes will remain a simple and yet richly vivid way to view the past with unrivaled archival stability. Newer slide films may now claim to have an equally archival duration, but Kodachrome has fully proven it'’s worth better than any other color film for nearly 75 years.
So the notion of actually celebrating a photographic era as powerful as Kodachrome at 75 years inspired one Colorado photographer to start an early petition to keep Kodachrome around long enough to accomplish that tribute to the film. In 2004, Daniel Bayer created the “"Kodachrome Project”", eventually creating an online awareness that the era should be visually celebrated with the passion of shooting the film instead of coming to a close quietly. “"The language of light and it’s play upon our world has always kept my attention focused in photography. What Kodachrome requires of a photographer’'s ability to read light for a masterful result is what sets it apart for me. I could not imagine passing on the opportunity of shooting Kodachrome now as a means to pay a personal tribute to the impact it has had in my life”." said bayer as he was relieve to see that Kodak would indeed keep the film and processing around long enough for those involved with the project to truly give the era it's due.
In a spectacle of a life the span of the average human, the Kodachrome era has taken on a life that is greater than any one person who has used it, any subject portrayed with it and even Kodak itself. When the years pass the date of Kodachrome’'s conclusion as a medium and one then looks at what the era truly stands for, the notion that Kodachrome was used for 75 years with such a tremendous impact and will continue to live on as if it were born at the fountain of youth could make one come to the conclusion that Momma never could take Kodachrome away and never will.
Sincerely,
Daniel Bayer, Creator / Director of the Kodachrome Project
No comments:
Post a Comment