Voigtlander Bessa R3A & 40mm, Black's 400 C41

A couple of photography students at Ryerson University whom I bumped into on the subway. They were on their way home from the photography fair held by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada, where they bought some funky old stuff. They managed to get their hands on some Polaroid gear, which they hope to match up to some new Fujifilm instant film since Polaroid is no longer making instant film. They also got their hands on some Kodak Kodachrome that expired back in 1956.

For those of you who are not familiar with Kodachrome, it is a slide film that you can just look at before having to invert them as is the case with negative film. It also requires a special process to develop, something that is not available in your local 1 hour lab in the drug store. Kodak announced in 2009 and they've stopped production of the film because of low demands. Most of the development labs have also shut down their Kodachrome processing facilities and the one and only lab that's still open in the whole world is located in Japan, due to shut down permanently at the end of 2010. Just another piece of photographic history that will soon be relegated to history.

Why is Kodachroms so special? It creates some of the most vibrant colours on film, something that involkes a sense of hostalgia amongst photographers and viewers alike. To get a sense of what I mean, visit: http://www.kodachromeproject.com, where Daniel Bayer is on a mission celebrate the goodness that is Kodachrome before the end of the year.

31 December 2010 will be a sad day indeed.

Voigtlander Bessa R3A & 40mm, Black's 400 C41