The Merriam-Webster Dictionary took me on a roundabout path when I looked up “obscurity”. It’s the “quality or state of being obscure.” So what is “obscure”? I had to jump to the third definition to get to the traditional meaning: “relatively unknown“. I guess it’s fitting that this fate should fall on a symbol of clarity, a veritable icon of unmistakable purity of color - Kodachrome Film.
Last week Kodak announced that after 74 years of production, it will discontinue Kodachrome. As digital demand increases, sales of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras that use film have decreased and Kodachrome now accounts for only a fraction of 1% of Kodak’s total sales. Only a single lab, in Parson’s Kansas, still processes the film.
Many famous photographs were shot on Kodachrome, including John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 (shot on 8mm).
I learned to develop film in 1973. I remember the rules about storing unexposed film in the refrigerator, checking it out to the photographers, and waiting to get the rolls back. The darkroom was my refuge. As I type this I can see the strips hanging on lines across the room, I smell fixer and I can hear myself gasp at the first time I saw an image floating before me in the sink. Magic.
I went to work in a Photography and Graphic supply house in my early 20’s. I had no idea what I was doing. I ended up selling ink and paper to newspapers. I vaguely remember something about Van Dyke Brown. A lot of my recall centers around the lenses and the guys selling them in the front - and the boxes of film and the guys moving them in the back. I worked in the middle, on the order desk.
I love my digital camera now. The film I shot years ago didn’t hold color. It wasn’t on Kodachrome - I didn’t know it should be. I’m obsessive about backing up my pictures now. Something tells me that as much as I remember, I’ve forgotten even more. Obscurity.
An interesting post, I enjoyed this. I've switched to digital. I still get the photos printed out, because... well, there's nothing like pulling out an album from any particular year and flipping through the pages. We just had our youngest's high school graduation, which prompted us to pull out 2003 to remember our oldest's graduation day.
ReplyDeleteI keep them organized in files on the computer, as well as stored the same way on Shutterfly. Overkill perhaps, but easy enough to recover, should the need occur.
I'll admit, I've defected to digital. The advantages are too good.
ReplyDeleteBut I still see people selling and processing old-fashioned film. Fujifilm, mostly. If they disappeared entirely - I honestly don't know how I'd feel. Probably a slight pang, but really, I don't mourn the passing of fax machines and carbon paper... Sometimes, things are just obsolete.