Treat this almost like a “Day in the Life of” type of project, but keep shooting it. Respond to life and light around you, but on Kodachrome.
Things in life coming and going, it is nothing new or overly profound. But in every passing of an era lies an opportunity. And in this particular one, we get to play with it just a little longer I would reckon….and I would hope.
This era would be what I call the Kodachrome era. There will never be a natural geographic feature named after a memory card. There will never be a song written about a camera sensor. And no matter how you try to emulate it on a computer, there will never be another Kodachrome. The era, the body of work and the artists who love it, there will never be anything like it again.
This speaks to me…loudly. Does it speak to you? What does it say to you and how does it ring in your gut to know that it might be possible that we will be looking at the 75th anniversary of a color film and the tremendous impact of work that came of it?
That is incredible to me. The notion of this excites me. In fact, it has excited me to the point that I felt compelled to shoot the film as much as I can until the last of the chemistry is gone or I run out of Kodachrome, which ever comes first.
At first, I thought that I would do the project on my own and I guess in some ways, I still am. But this is not a one man show, this stuff called Kodachrome is bigger than all of us.
So I am calling to you…
I am asking you: Do you see this opportunity? And if so, what do you feel of it?
Do you see that for a couple years or maybe a little more, we can all go out and re-discover our selves, our neighbors and our world using this grand old film called Kodachrome?
I do.
This is exactly the kind of celebration this film and this era deserves. It should not come to pass quietly and we all just read about it on a website, in a paper, or hear about it on CNN that Kodachrome is gone…that is just not right, not at all. Not when there is still the opportunity to use it in a manner that will do the film, the era and us as artists, journalists and just regular people, justice.
So how can you join in or help?
It does not matter if you are a super talented pro, a weekend shooter or a mom wanting to take pictures of your kids. Everyone and anyone should be shooting life around them with Kodachrome if they can and want to. And it may not even mean that is all you shoot. If you shoot digital, use or get a spare film camera to shoot Kodachrome in and carry it with you.
Just shoot it folks. Shoot a little of it or shoot a lot of it, but please, lets celebrate this film having shot it in it’s last years of production instead of waxing poetic until we hear “the” news.
This like any other journey, it does not start until you take the first step and that usually is the most daunting one to take.
In a perfect world, I would see people from all over the globe making fun, whimsical, gorgeous and impact laden images on Kodachrome. And I would see some pros shooting brilliant journalistic essays like Alex Webb does shooting everything and anything he can on it. I would like to see young people shooting it.
So what should you shoot? Anything you want.
If you love still life’s, then do brilliant still lifes. If you shoot landscapes, well then get out and do as Galen Rowell did and show the world what it all looks like on Kodachrome. But shoot life as we see it now, not in Kodachrome’s heyday decades ago. There will he plenty of time to reflect on that when the era comes to a close. And by all means, if you are a story driven shooter, find a great essay, use this project as “the” excuse to get out and go chase that grand documentary down that you have had rolling around in your head. If you can’t afford it, write me and I will drop a coupe rolls in the mail for you.
The assignment here for now, is to go out and make images of our world that wow you. And by all means, since this is “Our” project on “Our” Kodachrome, if you have an idea for a logistical improvement, how to get film to and fro to small countries that would otherwise not have access or any other thing like sources for funding, write me with it or post it on the forum. Need inspiration? Want to see what the film looks like when the proverbial “ball” is knocked out of the park?
Look at the work of Peter Tuner, Eric Meola, Jay Maisel, Galen Rowell, David Alan Harvey, Sam Abell, William Albert Allard, Alex Webb….I’m sure I’m missing a few more.
I can’t be everywhere in the world in the next few years, but if a few people in every corner of the globe make at least one brilliant image from now until this film passes, it will be something we can all look back on proudly and know we did the right thing.
I want to see the next few years leading up to the 75th anniversary filled with great new images on Kodachrome, that way, there is no doubt in anyones mind that we are truly visually celebrating an incredible era in history and not just reflecting on iconic images shot years if not decades ago.
The Kodachrome Project is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to grow as a photographer, an artist and even a person. And with the help of all of you, we can convince Kodak to keep it around long enough to mark this era with a great big exclamation point. Sure, there might be an exhibit, a book or two, a final body of work added to the Library of Congress. But above all, there will be the last rolls of Kodachrome well used, well shot and well represented if you give this all that you can.
So there is a lot to do, get a gallery up on the forum so you can start showing a few of your best, get bigger backing, more funding.
It’s real simple: The film, the era turns 75 in the year 2010. It is still around…it is not going to be forever. What does that cause you to feel? Are you inspired? Can you motivate? Can you help achieve this goal? Can you identify what your own version of it should be?
Let’s not make excuses….there is no time for that. Make this project yours, own it, identify with it, but do it.
It is February 27th, the year 2008…..what are you going to do with your Kodachrome?
I know what I am, I am going to shoot it like never before, with passion and determination and love.
Keep in touch, and don’t let them take Kodachrome away sooner than it should be.
Sincerely,
Daniel Bayer / The Kodachrome Project.
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