Kodachrome

I list photography as one of my hobbies, so it was with a sad and nostalgic heart that I learned today was the last time anywhere in the world that Kodak Kodachrome was to be developed. Kodak stopped making the film in 2009 and today, in tiny Parsons, Kansas, in a 75 year old family photography business, the last roll will be commercially developed.

Digital is the current wave and future of photography. I still hang on to my old Canon EOS Rebel 35mm because maybe I'll be cool enough to break it out and snap photos and develop them on my own like those nifty people I sometimes meet. This summer, a girl bike touring was carrying a vintage camera from the 50s. Admittedly, she said she hadn't used it a lot because it's so much easier to snap a photo and go with her compact digital. Another guy was riding from Chicago to New Mexico carrying a medium format. And a third was taking photos with just a Polaroid.

Check out these links, there's a small piece of history that we're not getting back now. The human story is told in many ways, photographs just one of the means. As said by Claire O'Neill, "It's not the end of the world, but is certainly the end of an era."

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas

A Color-Saturated Sun Sets on Kodachrome

The Kodachrome Project

The Last Roll of Kodachrome Film Ever Will Be Developed Today

Goodbye (Again) To The Last Rolls Of Kodachrome Film

Photos: Steve McCurry's Last Roll Of Kodachrome
- Steve McCurry was given by Kodak the last roll of Kodachrome produced.


ABC News - nice photo montage (and a shout out to Rosie the Riveter).

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