My Kodachrome project(s)

[KevinDks]

Morning all

I've been reading this forum for a long time, and I recognise a couple of names from APUG. I thought it was time to say hello, and to tell you about my Kodachrome projects.

I started shooting K64 myself after buying old Kodachromes on eBay (a tiny selection can be seen in my Flickr set, 'Other people's slides'). Looking at strangers' holiday photos seems odd to a lot of people, but those perfect old Kodachromes got me thinking about time passing and getting older and what I wanted to leave behind when I'm gone.

The role of the amateur photographer in providing a historical record for future generations is something I'm interested in, and that led me to Charles Cushman and his archive of 14,500 Kodachrome slides, and to my first project - to re-shoot his London photos from 1960, '61 and '65, using K64 of course. I've started that, and it's going to take a while - so far I've shot about 30 out of the 270+ scenes that he had, but most of those are with Dwaynes right now or still in the camera. Here's the one that isn't.

The other project is yet to start in earnest, but it's pretty simple. Looking at my eBay slides from 40 or 50 years ago, I'm drawn most to the people, the clothes, the hairstyles, the cars, the street scenes and advertising posters - in other words the things that change the most. From the point of view of someone looking at my slides 50 years from now it is a waste of time to shoot landscapes or flowers, if they are like me they will want to see England in 2009 so they can compare it with their England in 2059, and so I'm making an effort to shoot ordinary things like shop fronts and posters and street scenes at the same time as I'm doing the Cushman scenes. I even got stopped by the police while doing so (s.44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, they thought it was suspicious that I was taking photos AND writing notes, but I gave them a short lecture on the wonders of Kodachrome and they quickly realised I was a harmless eccentric...).

I've said enough. Hello again, and thanks for the bandwidth!

Best,

Kevin

[chris00nj]

Wow that is a great project idea! I had never seen the Cushman photos, so it's a great link. I enjoyed comparing your modern update to St. Mary's. I liked that you had a bus in frame as well. I look forward to seeing more.

I'll look at my Mom's slides from 40 years ago. It's cool to see how some things have changed and some things haven't. You can see the same monument or plaza, but the cars and the fashion are different. I also liked seeing how everyone wore suits everywhere on vacation!

[Brian Kim]

A good idea Kevin Dks.

I will try to commit 6-12 exp. of every roll to an image to wrap around your idea.

[JBA]

Indeed, very cool concept. To a great extent, I'm also documenting contemporary Tokyo.

[KevinDks]

Originally Posted by chris00nj

I'll look at my Mom's slides from 40 years ago. It's cool to see how some things have changed and some things haven't.

Absolutely. In 1960 St. Mary Le Strand was stained almost black from 150 years of coal smoke, the buses were the generation before last of Routemaster with open platforms at the back and people wore ties with their suits, but the kerb stones haven't been changed since then. That's the kind of detail I like.

Originally Posted by chris00nj

I also liked seeing how everyone wore suits everywhere on vacation!

That reminds me of one of Cushman's more well known photos, Three Bums from South Ferry Flophouses, from 1941. I don't know about bums - the one nearest the camera could pass for one of my colleagues on 'dress down Friday'.

Brian, JBA, thanks for your comments. I like your Kodachrome Archive JBA.

Best,

Kevin

[matt8314]

Originally Posted by KevinDks

From the point of view of someone looking at my slides 50 years from now it is a waste of time to shoot landscapes or flowers

Not necessarily. Climate change could result in very significant changes to the landscape.

[Brian Kim]

Originally Posted by KevinDks

Morning all

[ snip ] From the point of view of someone looking at my slides 50 years from now it is a waste of time to shoot landscapes or flowers, if they are like me they will want to see England in 2009 so they can compare it with their England in 2059, and so I'm making an effort to shoot ordinary things like shop fronts and posters and street scenes at the same time as I'm doing the Cushman scenes. [ snip ]

I've said enough. Hello again, and thanks for the bandwidth!

Best,

Kevin

I disagree in part. I can not tell anyone what to photograph.

I would ignore someone who told me shooting Kodachrome for not-historical purposes was a "waste of my time" or money.

Must be the flower child in me.

I also suspect that many of today's historical resources were originally labors of love. I suspect much of what we see today were donations to institutions with resources like space and dedicated volunteers. The "money" shots are into the realm of art, and there I suspect the treatment of subject matter has been diluted by provenance.

Kevin Dks - I can agree with you in part, but not as the reason to select Kodachrome for the media. For history, context is important - which is more than a picture. For amateur photography, and using film in particular, I think what matters is the man and the choice of tools. The man, tool choice, and subject selection may matter in a historical context.

For example, I wonder if the coalition of ranchers and environmentalists who share interests in preserving the wilderness consider using Kodachrome for it's fidelity and archival use.

My two cents.

Take care,
Brian

[matt8314]

One more thing when it comes to the issue of whether taking landscape shots with Kodachrome constitues wastefulness: you might not feel this way 10 years from now when Kodachrome is no longer available. When Kodachrome is gone, it's gone for good. And you will be forever stuck having to take landscape shots with another film (none of which look like Kodachrome) or digital. So take landscape shots with Kodachrome for both the unique way they look AND because you won't likely be able to do so for long. Now I'm not telling you NOT to take other kinds of pictures. But don't rule out landscape just because you feel at this time that it is a waste.

[KevinDks]

Matt, Brian, good points. It's always a challenge to prioritise all the potential subject matter for the time Kodachrome has left, but the approach that makes most sense to me is to concentrate on the kind of things that I find the most interesting in the vintage slides that I collect, in the hope that some people 50 years from now will be interested in the same things.

Even with cityscapes it is necessary to prioritise. For example this view looks very different now, but this one looks much the same. Which will change the most in another 50 years is the question, especially if sea levels rise by much.

Interesting point about landscapes. I hadn't thought about climate change. I used to take landscapes, on Velvia and Provia mostly, and in 645 not 35mm, but I've got out of the habit. You are right, it would be worthwhile to spend some time doing that with Kodachrome; in fact I have an opportunity to do so this very morning, so thanks for the prompt.

Best

Kevin

[Brian Kim]

I do not use Kodachrome because I fear it is going away.

I use Kodachrome because it's different and the reliable processing. I like the difference. And I depend on the processing. That I have 25 year old slides which look like they were taken last week is great,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mix-pla...7609580644303/

and since I like Kodachrome, I'm more than happy to continue using it.

So for me, the best reason to use Kodachrome is today, not tomorrow. It's worth it.