Sunday, July 25, 2010

Last Roll of Kodachrome

National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry was given the very last roll of Kodachrome to be manufactured. This marks the end of a very long era in photography. 35mm Kodachrome film was introduced by Kodak in 1936. McCurry used Kodachrome for 35 years and he shot this roll of film in India and New York City.

This film was the standard against which all slide films were measured and few could match its color palette and image quality. In my experience, Kodachrome 25 was the best of the Kodachrome films and it especially did well with reproducing warmer colors. The film made its way into popular culture when musician Paul Simon wrote and recorded a hit called "Kodachrome" in 1973.

National Geographic plans to air a TV special next year on McCurry and this last roll of Kodachrome.

You can read about McCurry and Kodachrome here.